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LECTURES  ON  THE  SEVEN  CHURCHES 
OF  ASIA  MINOR. 


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The  Rer.  John  Cummin^,  D.D.,  is  now  the  great  pulpit  orator  of  London,  as  Edward  Irving  was  some  ', ; 
twenty  years  sinre.  But  very  different  is  the  Doctor  to  that  strange,  wonderfully  eloquent,  but  erratic  ' ; 
man.  There  could  not  by  possibility  be  a  greater  contrast.  The  one  all  fire,  enthusiasm,  and  semi-  '  \ 
madness;  the  others  man  of  chastened  energy  and  convincing  calmness.  The  one  like  a  meteor,  ^' 
flashing  across  a  troubled  sky,  and  then  vanishtng  suddenly  in  the  darkness ;  the  other  like  a  silver 
star,  shining  serenely,  and  illuminating  our  pathway  with  its  steady  ray.  He  is  looked  upon  as  the 
great  champion  of  Protestantism  in  its  purest  form. 

His  great  work  on  the  "  Apocalypse,"  upon  which  his  high  reputation  as  a  writer  rests,  having  a. 
ready  reached  its  fifteenth  edition  in  England,  while  bis  "  Lectures  on  the  Miracles,"  and  those  on 
"  Daniel,"  have  passed  through  six  editions  of  1000  copies  each,  and  his  "  I.ectares  on  the  Parables 
through  four  editions,  all  within  a  comparatively  short  time. 


\^ 


U-'  ,i/y    '1/  ^  '^'  ^./f  7- 


LECTUEES 


SEYEN  CHURCHES  OF  ASIA  MIIOR. 


i^-^'^ig&wxxat&^winiW'riMKi  fiuimo-wMmbjtsmixia.-^-. 


BY 


THE  REV.  JOBN  CUMMmG,  B.D. 

MUnSTEB   OF   THE   SCOTCH    NiTIONAL   CHCRCn,    AUTHOB    OF   LECTCEES  OS  THE 
MIRACLES,  PARABLES,  DANIEL,  ETC.  ETC. 


«  He  that  bath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  Churches." 
Rev.  iii.  22. 

,  * 


J-      PHILADELPHIA:  ^/j/  ^ 

LIKDSAY  AND  BLAKISTOK.  ^^ 


1854. 


ci\ 


■  ft-mjos 


m' 


THE  RIGHT  HONOURABLE    ,     - 

THE    COIJKTESS    OF    DTJCIE. 


Dear  Madam: 

My  respect  for  your  Ladyship  will  plead  my 
best  apology  for  dedicating  to  you  these  Lectures  on  the 
Seven  Churches  of  Asia.  You  permitted  me  to  associate 
your  name  with  a  previous  work,  and  I  am  sure  I  have 
your  forgiveness  for  again  connecting  so  esteemed  and 
respected  a  name  with  this  volume. 

Aware  of  the  practical  character  of  your  mind,  and 
of  your  deeper  sympathy  with  acknowledged  evangelical 
truth  and  personal  religion  than  with  any  interpretation, 
however  valuable,  or  even  with  the  study  of  unfulfilled 
prophecy,  however  obligatory,  I  seize  the  opportunity  of 
dedicating  to  your  Ladyship  these  Lectures,  as  a  sincere, 
and  it  is  hoped  not  unsuccessful  attempt  to  show,  that  if 
the  Apocalypse  has  solemn  and  mysterious  depths  which 

1*  5 


6  DEDICATION. 

none  can  sound,  but  which  all  should  study,  it  also  presents 
unsealed  springs  of  living  water  for  the  refreshment  and 
direction  of  all  that  have  ears  to  hear.  Not  a  few  of  these 
Lectures  you  heard  delivered  from  the  pulpit:  I  hope 
their  interest  has  not  escaped  by  their  being  committed  to 
the  press. 

To  your  Ladyship  and  to  your  noble  husband  the  schools 
and  charities  and  missions  of  my  Church  are  deeply  in- 
debted. I  can  only  thus  publicly  thank  you,  and  pray 
that  on  you  and  yours  that  blessing  may  rest  which  makes 
poor  men's  homes  happy,  and  without  which  noble  homes 
can  never  know  what  true  happiness  is. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be 

Your  Ladyship's  most 

Paithful  and  obliged  Servant, 
The  Author. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


The  present  volume  contains  a  practical  view  of  the 
precious  epistles  addressed  by  Jesus  the  High  Priest,  who 
walks  amid  the  golden  candlesticks,  to  the  Seven 
Churches  of  Asia.  In  these,  as  in  all  the  Epistles  of  the 
New  Testament,  the  local  is  made  the  pedestal  on  which 
shines  afar  the  brightness  of  Catholic  Christianity.  The 
special  Church  is  addressed  as  the  representative  of  the 
whole  Church.  "  He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,"  appended  to 
each  epistle,  is  evidence  of  this.  The  Author  hopes  and 
prays  that  these  Lectures  may  be  even  more  useful  in 
print,  to  such  as  may  be  pleased  to  read  them,  than  they 
were  as  addressed  from  the  pulpit  to  those  who  heard 
them. 


CONTENTS. 


LECTURE  I. 

nun 
The  Seeb Rev.  i.  9-11 13 

LECTURE  XL 
JoBN  IK  Patmos Rev.  L  9 29 

LECTURE  IIL 
The  EvBEiASTiNQ  High-Pkiest iJeu.  L  12-18 44 

LECTURE  rV. 
The  Seven  Stabs  and  Seven  Candlesticks Rev.  i.  20. 59 

LECTURE  V. 
The  Chuech  of  Ephesus — Heb  Excellency Rev.  ii.  1-8 77 

LECTURE  VI. 
FiBST  Love  Lost Rev.u.^ 94 

LECTURE  VII. 
The  Divine  Peesceiption Reo.n.5,Q Ill 

LECTURE  VIIL 

The  Battle  of  Life Rev.n.7 125 

9 


10  CONTENTS.  ' 

LECTURE  IX. 

PAGE 

Thb  Solsiebs  ov  Christ Rev.n.7 142 

LECTURE  X. 
Teials Eev.  ii.  8,  9 163 

LECTURE  XL 
Chbistian  Coubaqe Rev.  ii.  10 176 

LECTURE  XIL 
Chbistian  Faithfulness Rev.  ii.  10 193 

LECTURE  Xni. 
The  Pb6hi8e Rev.  ii.  11 211 

LECTURE  XIV. 
The  Faithful  Mabttb Rev.  iL  12,  18 228 

LECTURE  XV. 
Unfaithfulness Rev.  ii.  14,  15 248 

LECTURE  XVL 
The  Hidden  Manna  and  White  Stone Rev.  iL  17 258 

LECTURE  XVIL 
Chbistian  Gbaoes Rev.  ii.  18,  19 271 

LECTURE  XVIII. 
CoNSUMFtiOK  OF  Babtlon Rev.  u.  20. 285 

LECTURE   XIX. 

The  Blood  op  Saints  ih  Rome /-J*^-  "•.-^o^l  30G 

I.  Rev.  ZTUi.  24  J 


*  CONTENTS.  11  -^ 

* 


LECTURE  XX. 
Spibituai,  Death Rev.  iii.  1 832 


LECTURE  XXL 
Instant  Dutiss ••••> Sev.  iiL  2 847 

LECTURE  XXIL 
Thk  WAI.K  IN  White Rev.  m.4...., 860 

LECTURE  XXIIL 
Tbus  HoNoua  and  Renown.. Rev.m.5 373 

LECTURE  XXIV. 
The  Key  of  David  and  the  Open  Dooe .Rev,  ui.  7,  8 386 

LECTURE  XXV. 
Hold  Fast..... Rev.  iii.  11 398 

LECTURE  XXVL 
Globious  Fbomises »....JSev.  iii.  9, 10, 12, 13  409 

LECTURE  XXVIL 

Power  over  the  Nations  and  the  Moenino 

Star Rev.  ii.  26-29 428 

LECTURE  XXVIIL 
Enthusiasm Rev.  iii.  14-16 434 

LECTURE  XXIX. 
DiviNB  Counsel Rev.  iii.  17,  18 448 

LECTURE  XXX. 
Sovereign  Love Rev.  iii.  19 462 


^   12  CONTENTS. 

>«» 
LECTURE  XXXI. 
DiviKS  Chasxisemxhi Reo.  iii.  19 471 

LECTURE  XXXIL 
Thb  Appbal  ot  Lovi £et;.  iii.  20 485 

LECTURE  XXXIIL 
Communion Rev.  iii.  20 600 

LECTURE  XXXIV. 
The  Ikpobtahce  ot  the  IimiriDUAi. .Sev.  iii.  21 514 

LECTURE  XXXV, 
The  Lasx  Appeal Rev.  iii.  22 526 


LECTUEES 

ON 

THE  SEVEN  CHURCHES  OE  ASIA. 


LECTURE    I. 

THE   SEER. 

"  I  John,  who  also  am  your  brother,  and  companion  irf  tribulation,  and  in 
the  kingdom  and  patience  of  Jesus  Christ,  was  in  the  isle  that  is  called  Patmos, 
for  the  word  of  God,  and  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ.  I  was  in  the 
Spirit  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  heard  behind  me  a  great  voice,  as  of  a  trum- 
pet, saying,  I  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  first  and  the  last:  and  what  thou 
seest  write  in  a  book,  and  send  it  unto  the  seven  churches  which  arc  in 
Asia;  unto  Ephesus,  and  unto  Smyrna,  and  unto  Pergamos,  and  unto 
Thyatira,  and  unto  Sardis,  and  unto  Philadelphia,  and  unto  Laodicea." — 
Rev.  i.  9-1 

It  is  my  intention  to  lay  before  you  plain  and  interesting 
sketches  of  sacred  duties  and  responsibilities,  as  far  as  these  can 
be  gathered  from  the  addresses  of  our  Lord  to  the  seven  Churches 
of  Asia.  These  addresses  have  little  to  do  with  what  may  gratify 
the  taste  of  the  cultivated,  or  please  the  imagination  and  excite 
the  fancy  of  the  intellectual ;  but  if  defective  in  these  claims  to 
popular  sympathy,  they  are  calculated  to  do- much  good  to  those 
who  seek  to  know  their  duties  and  to  understand  how  they  shall 
best  fulfil  them,  and  to  be  made  acquainted  with  their  respon- 
sibilities as  members  of  the  visible  Church,  and  living  amid  the 
means  and  ordinances  of  grace.  Profit  is  not  always  set  in  plea- 
sure. If,  therefore,  you  expect  in  my  expositions  of  these 
Epistles  to  the  seven  Churches  of  Asia  any  flights  or  excursions 
calculated  to  gratify  the  curious,  you  will  be  disappointed ;  but 
if  you  expect  and  pray  that  I  may  be  able  to  submit  to  you  new 

III.   SER.  2  13 


^%\^ 


14  THE   SEVEN  CHURCHES  OF  ASIA. 

and  fresher  views  of  great  obligations,  lofty  responsibilities,  and 
to  imprint  upon  your  hearts  a  deeper  sense  of  gratitude,  then,  1 
trust,  you  will  not  be  disappointed — I  believe  that  the  Spirit  of 
God  will  bless  what  I  say,  to  your  good  and  to  his  glory. 

The  epistles  to  these  churches  are  really  addressed  to  the  Ca- 
tholic or  Universal  Church — they  are  not  prescriptions  for  a 
century,  but  for  all  succeeding  ages — duties  not  for  a  province, 
but  duties  for  the  world ;  encouragements,  promises,  and  precious 
truths,  which,  like  the  Author  of  all,  are  the  same  in  the  first 
and  in  the  last  century,  and  operative  in  all  latitudes,  in  all  lon- 
gitudes, in  all  climes ;  fitted  to  man  for  yesterday,  to-day,  and 
for  ever.  In  this  my  preliminary  lecture,  I  intend  to  submit, 
what  I  trust  will  not  be  altogether  unprofitable,  some  facts  in  the 
biography  and  character  of  him  who  is  here  named  as  the  author 
of  the  Apocalypse.  I  have  not  done  so  before  :  I  wish  that 
every  stage  of  our  progress,  in  examining  God's  holy  word,  may 
be  from  light  to  light ;  that  all  that  is  to  be  learned  of  God,  his 
ways,  and  people,  may  be  learned  by  us. 

I  will  therefore  endeavour,  as  God  may  enable  me,  to  fhrow 
some  light  upon  the  interesting  biogi'aphy  of  John,  as  far  as  that 
biography  is  unfolded  to  us,  first  in  inspired,  and  next  in  eccle- 
siastical history.  I  need  scarcely  state,  that  all  we  read  of  John 
in  the  Bible  is  extremely  meager.  It  is  the  unique  and  beautiful 
characteristic  of  the  Bible,  that  the  human  fades  away  before  the 
divine;  the  Apostle  is  lost  in  the  splendour  of  the  Apostle's 
Lord ;  John  is  made  to  decrease,  that  the  Saviour  of  John  may 
increase  more  and  more.  It  must  surely  strike  every  reader  of 
the  Bible,  how  completely  and  consistently  throughout,  the 
human  is  made  subordinate  to  the  divine ;  so  that  the  apostle, 
and  the  angel,  and  the  evangelist,  and  the  prophet,  shine  in  a 
glory  not  their  own,  but  borrowed  from  Him  whose  glories  they 
were  commissioned  to  reflect,  and  from  whose  Spirit  they  derived 
all  their  inspiration  and  their  guidance.  Faj:  be  it  from  me  this 
evening  to  preach  John  as  if  he  were  the  Saviour.  "We  are  told 
that  we  are  to  follow  the  apostles,  but  with  limitations — "  as  far 
as  they  followed  Christ."  The  great  example  is  Jesus ;  sub- 
ordinate ones,  in  their  place  useful  and  beautiful  ones,  are  the 
apostles  and  evangelists  who  preached  him.     Let  us  therefore 


THE   SEER.  15 

try  if  we  can  gather  any  thing  that  will  instruct,  and  cheer,  and 
help  us  in  studying,  as  far  as  the  Bible  discovers  it  to  us,  the 
biography  of  John. 

It  seems  probable  that  he  was  bom  in  Bethsaida,  a  small  fish- 
ing village,  and  the  same  village  of  which  Peter  and  Andrew  and 
Philip  were  natives.  There  is  something  not  accidental  in  this. 
Not  a  great  metropolis  was  the  birthplace  of  Christ  the  Lord ; 
and  little  hamlets,  and  obscure  villages  and  fishing-towns  were 
the  birthplaces  of  those  who  were  likest  him,  who  were  chosen 
by  him,  and  whose  names  shall  be  heard  while  Christianity  en- 
dures, and  Christ  is  loved  and  known.  This  seems  to  be,  in  this 
respect,  in  keeping  with  all  God^s  procedure  :  "  He  hath  chosen 
the  weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  mighty ;  and  things 
that  are  not  to  bring  to  naught  the  things  that  are."  It  seems 
that  the  Father  of  John  was  a  fisherman ;  his  brother  was  James, 
his  mother  Salom^.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  these  were 
pious  persons,  and  that  in  consistency  with  this  they  brought  up 
John  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel. 
The  name  they  gave  him,  John,  which  he  himself  here  claims, 
"  I  John,  who  am  your  brother,"  is,  literally  translated,  "  the 
favour  of  God,"  or  "  favoured  of  God  :"  and  when  they  gave 
that  name,  I  doubt  not  they  did  so  not  without  attaching  any 
meaning  to  it ;  they  gave  it  as  the  expression  of  the  higher  good 
they  desired,  or  of  the  conviction  they  felt  that  John  was  a  bless- 
ing given  them  from  God  ;  and  probably  from  the  first  they  an- 
ticipated that  his  life  would  show  that  his  name  was  the  symbol 
of  reality  and  substance,  and  that  he  would  indeed  be  favoured 
of  God.  In  this  world,  names  are  mere  empty  sounds ',  in  the 
Bible,  they  are  realities.  We  live  very  much  in  the  realm  of 
fiction ;  the  Bible  speaks,  and  its  true  heroes  act,  in  the  realms 
of  reality  and  truth.  It  appears  that  the  employment  of  John, 
in  common  with  his  brothers,  was  that  of  a  fisherman  on  the 
banks  of  the  lake  Gennesaret ;  one  can  well  conceive  that  such 
an  employment  is  calculated,  from  the  dangers  to  which  it  is  al- 
ways exposed,  to  remind  perpetually  of  Providence. 

All  was  obscure,  and  humble,  and  lowly,  in  the  origin  of  John; 
his  parents  fishermen,  his  birthplace  a  lowly  village,  and  his  own 
employment  that  of  his  parents.     Nor  is  all  this  without  in- 


16  THE  SEVEN  CHURCHES  OF  ASIA. 

structive  lessons  to  us  and  the  churcli  at  large.  It  teaches  us 
what  we  learn  on  every  page  of  the  Bible,  that  "  not  many  great, 
not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble  are  called ;" — a  passage,  how- 
ever, I  may  here  observe,  some  times  misconstrued ;  for  it  is 
quoted  as  if  it  taught  that  God  does  not  call  many  great  and 
noble  to  the  knowledge  and  enjoyment  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus ; 
but  this  is  not  its  direct  lesson ;  the  apostle  is  speaking,  not  of 
converts  to  Christianity,  but  of  ministers  of  the  gospel,  when  he 
says  that  "  God  hath  chosen  the  foolish  things  of  the  world  to  con- 
found the  wise,  and  God  hath  chosen  the  weak  things  of  the  world 
to  confound  things  which  are  mighty,  and  base  things  of  the  world, 
and  things  which  are  despised,  hath  God  chosen,  yea,  and  thing 
which  are  not,  to  bring  to  naught  things  that  are ;  that  no  flesh 
should  glory  in  his  presence."  When  he  says  that  not  many  of 
such  great  ones  are  "  called,"  he  means,  not  called  to  be  ministers 
of  the  gospel,  or  preachers  of  the  truth.  Who  knows  but,  in  the 
obscure  lanes  and  alleys  of  this  great  metropolis,  where  the  only 
visitor  of  love  is  the  pioneer  of  the  ragged  schools,  and  the  only 
other  is  a  visitor  of  law,  the  policeman,  there  may  be  concealed, 
in  subterranean  depths  into  which  few  except  those  I  have  re- 
ferred to,  find  their  way — or  would  follow  in  damp  lanes  and 
wretched  dwellings — some  yet  undeveloped  John,  or  Peter,  or 
Paul ;  and  we  of  this  congregation  may  be  the  instruments,  by 
the  agency  of  our  schools,  of  bringing  forth  from  its  concealment 
at  least  some  bright  and  precious  gem,  that  shall  have  engraven 
on  it  the  name,  and  reflect  on  earth  and  throughout  eternity  the 
lustre  of  Him  who  loved  us  and  redeemed  us  by  his  blood  ! 

One  day,  John  the  fisherman,  the  son  of  Zebedee,  heard  a 
voice  by  the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  which  roused,  interested,  and 
enlisted  him — it  was  the  voice  of  John  the  Baptist,  who  is  thus 
described  by  the  evangelist  himself:  "  There  was  a  man  sent  from 
God,  whose  name  was  John.  The  same  came  for  a  witness,  to 
bear  witness  of  the  light,  that  all  men  through  him  might  believe. 
He  was  not  that  light,  but  he  was  sent  to  bear  witness  of  that 
light."  The  seer  saw  this  John  baptizing,  and  heard  him  con- 
fessing that  "  he  was  not  the  Christ,  but  that  His  shoe's  latchet 
he  was  unworthy  to  loose."  But  he  heard  from  him  a  still  more 
touching  and  beautiful  cry,  "Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  that 


THE   SEER.  17 

taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world."  Two  disciples  heard  the 
Baptist  on  this  occasion,  as  we  are  informed  in  John's  Gospel, 
(chap.  i.  37,)  and  followed  Jesus  :  one  of  these  two  was  no  doubt 
the  evangelist  himself;  and  in  so  doing  they  give  us  a  beautiful 
and  instructive  example.  John  and  Andrew  heard  the  Baptist 
preach,  but  they  did  not  follow  the  Baptist — they  "followed 
Jesus."  It  should  be  so  with  us ;  we  ought  to  hear  the  minister 
preach,  but  we  must  rise  above  the  minister,  and  rest  only  on  the 
Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world.  It  is  a 
very  interesting  fact,  too,  that  as  John  was  converted  by  hearing 
Christ  preached  as  the  Lamb,  so  John  is  the  Evangelist  who, 
whether  in  his  gospel  or  in  the  Apocalypse,  brings  forward 
Christ  most  frequently  as  the  Lamb — "Behold  the  Lamb  of 
God  I" — and  again  in  the  Apocalypse  he  represents  him  as  a 
"  Lamb  seated  on  his  throne ;"  as  if  the  first  view  of  Christ  pre- 
sented to  his  mind  were  the  view  that  was  permanently  before 
him  in  all  its  touching  beauty  and  glory,  and  evermore  most  in- 
teresting to  his  heart.  John  was  not  made  an  apostle  as  soon  as 
he  was  converted  ;  he  was  left  to  show  his  consistency  as  a  pri- 
vate Christian  first;  and,  having  illustrated  and  adorned  the 
humbler  office  by  his  life,  he  was  chosen  to  be  a  disciple,  and 
subsequently  to  be  an  apostle ;  he  acted  the  Christian  well,  and 
then  was  admitted  to  the  ministry ;  he  showed  the  consistency  of 
the  humble  believer,  and  then  he  was  consecrated  to  the  dignity 
of  the  disciple  of  the  Lord. 

John  and  James  were  in  their  boat,  on  the  shores  of  their 
native  lake,  or  sea  as  it  is  called,  mending  their  nets,  when  Jesus 
passed  by  and  said,  "  Follow  me ;"  and  the  record  is,  "  straight- 
way they  left  their  nets,  and  followed  Jesus."  There  was  power 
in  those  words;  they  awakened  echoes  in  the  heart  of  the 
apostle ;  and  he  bore  witness  to  Christ's  truth,  as  not  in  word 
only  but  also  in  power.  He  became  from  that  moment,  we  read, 
a  disciple  of  Jesus,  but  he  was  not  yet  raised  to  be  an  apostle  of 
Jesus.  The  distinction  is  this :  the  disciples  were  simply 
listeners  to  the  teaching,  and  imitators  of  the  example  of  Jesus ; 
and  it  was  only  after  they  had  served  the  apprenticeship  of  dis- 
ciples, (if  I  may  use  the  word,)  that  they  were  raised  to  the 
dignity  of  the  apostleship. 


18  THE  SEVEN  CHURCHES  OF  ASIA. 

We  next  find  the  appointment,  or  designation,  or  ordination 
of  John,  recorded  in  the  Gospel  of  Mark,  where  we  have  these 
words  :  "  And  he  goeth  np  into  a  mountain,  and  calleth  unto  him 
whom  he  would,  and  they  came  unto  him.  And  he  ordained 
twelve,  that  they  should  be  with  him,  and  that  he  might  send 
them  forth  to  preach,  and  to  have  power  to  heal  sicknesses  and 
to  cast  out  devils.  And  Simon  he  sumamed  Peter ;  and  James 
the  son  of  Zebedee,  and  John  the  brother  of  James,  he  sur- 
named  them  Boanerges,  which  is,  "  sons  of  thunder."  It  seems 
a  rather  remarkable  fact,  that  the  most  momentous  scenes  in  the 
history  of  God's  intercourse  with  man  have  taken  place  upon 
mountain-tops.  The  ark  rested  upon  the  loftiest  pinnacle  of 
Ararat ;  the  trial  of  Abraham's  faith  took  place  upon  the  heights 
of  Moriah ;  the  law  was  given  from  Sinai ;  the  blessing  was  at- 
tached to  Gerizzim,  and  the  curse  ^o  Mount  Ebal;  the  temple  was 
raised  on  Mount  Zion ;  Jesus  preached  from  a  mountain  as  his 
favourite  pulpit ;  he  consecrated  the  apostles  upon  a  mountain- 
top  ;  he  himself  was  crucified  on  a  mountain ;  he  rose  to  the 
skies  from  Mount  Olivet :  and  thus,  the  most  remarkable  events 
in  the  history  of  the  past  all  took  place  upon  mountain-tops. 
Whether  it  is  that  those  who  were  more  immediately  concerned 
were  raised  above  the  din  and  stir  of  the  world  below,  and 
brought,  as  it  were,  into  more  silent  and  complete  communion 
with  God — or  whether  it  was  a  symbolical  act,  we  know  not. 
Certainly  there  is  something  elevating  and  ennobling  when  one 
stands  upon  a  mountain-top,  and,  lifted  above  all  the  bustle  and 
stir  of  the  world  below,  sees  God's  great  earth  beneath,  and  God's 
over-arching  sky  above ;  and  forms,  as  it  were,  some  conception 
of  the  grandeur  and  magnificence  of  Him  who  is  enthroned  upon 
the  riches  of  the  universe.  We  read  in  this  account  of  the  con- 
secration of  the  apostles,  that  John  and  James  were  called  Boa- 
nerges, the  translation  of  which  is  given,  viz.,  "  the  sons  of 
thunder."  We  have  been  accustomed  to  view  John  as  character- 
ized by  mildness  and  love  exclusively ;  and  we  cannot  well  con- 
ceive, at  first  sight,  why  he  was  called  by  a  name — "  the  son  of 
thunder" — that  seems  the  very  antithesis  of  his  character ;  and 
yet  it  may  be  that  it  was  not  nature  that  made  the  spirit  of  John 
so  beautiful  and  calm,  but  the  grace  of  God  that  so  subdued  and 


THE    SEER.  19 

softened  it.  We  read  that  on  one  occasion  John  showed  a  spirit 
incompatible  with  the  spirit  of  the  Christian :  he  himself  states, 
"  Master,  we  saw  one  casting  out  devils  in  thy  name ;  and  we  for- 
bade him,  because  he  followeth  not  with  us."  Here  was  developed 
the  spirit  of  the  most  exclusive  sectarianism ;  "  He  does  not  take 
our  form,  he  does  not  wear  our  name,  or  pronounce  our  Shib- 
boleth, or  conform  to  our  ecclesiastical  rigime ;  we  cannot  excuse 
his  doing  the  greatest  good,  because  he  does  not  do  it  in  our 
way."  This  is  the  spirit  of  a  bigot,  and  the  very  air  and  odour 
of  the  inquisitor.  Yet  such  a  spirit  was  in  John :  grace  extir- 
pated it,  but  originally  it  was  there.  But  this  last  was  not  the 
only  occasion  on  which  John  exhibited  a  spirit  equally  unchristian. 
It  was  he  who  said,  "  Wilt  thou  that  we  command  fire  from  heaven 
to  consume  them,  as  Elias  did  V  Here  was  a  budding  Hildebrand 
in  the  college  of  the  apostles.  Popery  is  not  a  thing  peculiar 
to  Trent  or  to  the  Tiber ;  it  is  no  exotic,  it  is  indigenous  to  human 
nature.  The  corrupt  heart  is  its  congenial  soil.  It  is  not  a  stock 
that  needs  to  be  nurtured  with  care,  and  that  will  perish  if  left 
alone ;  it  is  a  weed,  that  grows  and  flourishes  spontaneously  in 
human  nature ;  and  human  nature,  on  which  we  sometimes  hear 
so  eloquent  panegyrics,  if  left  to  itself,  would  develop  all  the 
sectarianism  of  the  first  incident  I  have  shown,  and  break  out 
into  the  proscription  and  the  angry  persecution  indicated  in  the 
second.  We  conclude,  therefore,  that  while  there  may  be  much 
that  was  excellent  and  beautiful  in  the  constitutional  character  of 
John,  he  was  indebted  rather  to  grace  than  to  nature  for  all  by 
which  he  is  characterized  and  most  remembered  in  the  Chris- 
tian church.  Nor  did  John  himself  5ver  fail  to  recollect 
the  passion  he  had  shown,  and  the  rashness  with  which  he  had 
spoken ;  for  it  is  he  who  thus  writes,  and  writes  from  the  depths 
of  his  own  experience,  "  K  we  say  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive 
ourselves,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  us ;  but  if  we  confess  our  sins, 
he  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us 
from  all  unrighteousness. 

One  feature  we  find  peculiar  to  the  character  of  John — one 
which  he  assumes  for  himself,  and  a  very  beautiful  one  it  is — 
"  the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved."  He  calls  himself  by  this  name 
throughout  the  Gospel ;  and  in  this  he  exhibits  a  trait  very  difie- 


20  THE  SEVEN   CHURCHES  OF  ASIA. 

rent  from  either  of  those  to  which  I  have  just  alluded.  He  does 
not  say,  "the  disciple  that  loved  the  Lord,"  for  there  might 
have  been  there  an  assumption  of  distinction  or  merit,  and  su- 
periority to  the  rest;  but  he  says,  "the  disciple  whom  Jesus 
loved,"  thus  showing  that  it  was  the  grace  of  Jesus,  not  the 
merit  of  John,  that  was  prominent  in  his  holy  and  enlightened 
mind.  But  his  character  makes  it  evident,  that  whoever  is  loved 
of  God,  and  feels  that  it  is  so,  is  just  the  man  that  will  love  God 
most  ardently  and  enthusiastically  in  return.  John  showed  this  j 
he  seems  to  have  felt  most  deeply  the  love  that  Christ  bore  to 
him,  and  he  seems  to  have  responded  most  heartily  in  love  to 
Jesus  in  return — a  love  alike  human  and  divine ;  for  we  find 
him  lingering  near  the  cross  to  the  very  last,  and,  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  Jesus,  taking  charge  of  a  mother  who  felt  all  the  bitter- 
ness of  one  who  had  lost  her  nearest  and  her  dearest  son. 
Throughout  all  the  writings  of  John,  he  gives  evidence  of  his  in- 
tense love,  and  adoration,  and  study  of  Jesus.  His  Gospel  abounds 
with  proofs  of  watching  most  minutely  every  trait  and  feature, 
and  drinking  in  every  word,  of  Jesus.  We  are  told  that  he  was 
the  disciple  who  learned  upon  Jesus'  bosom  ;  and  he  seems  to 
have  been  the  disciple  that  drank  deepest  into  the  spirit,  and  un- 
veiled the  greatest  portion  of  the  inner  experience  of  his  Lord, 
in  the  precious  Gospel  of  which  he  is  the  author.  Nor  can  we 
fail  to  notice  this  in  the  marked  contrast  observable  between  his 
Gospel  and  those  of  the  other  evangelists.  In  the  Gospels  of 
Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke,  we  have  all  the  miracles  of  Jesus  re- 
corded ;  in  the  Gospel  of  John  we  have  fewer  of  the  miracles, 
and  vastly  more  of  tHe  discourses  and  the  prayers  of  Jesus. 
The  three  first  evangelists  seem,  if  I  may  so  speak,  to  have  been 
dazzled  by  the  splendour  of  the  presence  of  omnipotent  power ; 
the  last  evangelist  seems  to  have  been  riveted  by  the  manifestation 
of  disinterested  love,  and  by  the  beauty,  the  condescension,  the 
wisdom,  and  other  heavenly  graces,  of  whicb  Jesus  was  the  em- 
bodiment. The  first  seems  to  have  recorded  that  which  struck 
their  senses  with  thfe  greatest  awe ;  the  last  seems  to  have  re 
corded  that  which  touched  his  heart  with  the  most  responsive 
love.  John  was  one  of  the  three  special  friends  that  Jesus  seems 
to  have  been  most  frequently  with.     It  appears  that  Jesus  had, 


THE    SEER.  21 

if  I  may  use  the  word — and  use  it  with,  the  profoundest  reverence 
— his  private  friendship,  for  he  was  the  human  as  truly  as  the 
divine.  Certainly  it  appears  upon  the  face  of  the  narrative,  that 
John  and  James  and  Peter  were  specially  selected  by  Jesus  to  be 
his  more  immediate  friends — to  whom  he  showed  more  love,  but 
for  whom  he  did  not  suffer  more.  One  of  them  is  called  "  the 
disciple  whom  Jesus  loved ;"  and  the  three  are  seen  in  more  pri- 
vate and  personal  intercourse  with  the  Lord,  and  they  appear 
prominent  in  almost  every  great  event  in  the  history  of  the 
Saviour.  These  three — Pet^r,  James,  and  John — are  seen  upon 
the  mount  of  transfiguration,  where  they  obtained  a  view  and  in- 
sight into  the  heavenly  state,  which  Christ  graciously  vouchsafed 
to  them  alone,  to  be  an  earnest  or  prelibation  of  that  glory  for 
which  they  were  candidates ;  and  we  may  notice  that,  lest  they 
should  be  too  elated  by  the  splendour  of  the  scene  they  witnessed 
upon  Tabor,  these  same  three  are  introduced  to  the  sorrowful  and 
painful  spectacle  which  they  beheld  in  Grethsemane ;  and  so  true 
was  the  sacred  penman  to  his  duties  and  responsibilities,  that 
John,  who  writes  the  narrative,  records  his  and  their  shame,  by 
stating  that  Jesus  came  and  found  them  sleeping,  and  mildly  and 
gently  rebuked  them  for  it.  We  find,  too,  John  present  with 
Jesus  before  Caiphas  and  Pilate  and  Herod.  We  find  him 
following  his  Lord  to  Calvary,  and  weeping  amid  the  spectators 
of  that  awful  and  yet  glorious  tragedy.  John  alone  has  preserved 
the  last  words  that  were  uttered  by  the  Lord  of  glory — those  me- 
morable ones — "It  is  finished."  At  the  resurrection,  John 
makes  his  appearance  again.  We  read  that  Mary  ran  to  "  Peter 
and  John," — selecting  those  two  as  what  I  may  call  the  favoured 
disciples — and  told  them  that  the  body  of  Jesus  was  wanting; 
she  said  this  with  sorrow  and  with  lamentation,  not  knowing  that 
Christ  was  to  rise  from  the  dead ;  and  when  they  heard  the  news, 
their  conduct  developed  a  rather  interesting  trait.  "  Peter  there- 
fore went  forth,  and  that  other  disciple,"  i.  e.  John,  "to  the 
sepulchre ;  so  they  ran  both  together,  and  the  other  disciple  did 
outrun  Peter,  and  came  first  to  the  sepulchre  :"  thus  teaching  us 
that  Peter  was  an  old  man,  and  John  a  youth,  and  full  of  elas- 
ticity and  vigour;  Peter  the  most  rash  and  enthusiastic,  and 
therefore  running  as  fast  as  he  could,  and  yet  John  outstripping 


22  THE   SEVEN  CHUECHES  OF   ASIA. 

him  in  the  holy  race,  because  younger,  to  see  what  had  become 
of  their  beloved  Lord.  But  when  they  arrived  at  the  tomb,  the 
old  man's  boldness  contrasts  with  the  young  man's  timidity,  for 
while  John  drew  back,  as  afraid,  Peter  went  in  first  and  alone. 
Indeed,  we  may  observe  that  Simon  Peter,  wherever  his  physical 
strength  was  sufficient  to  be  the  vehicle  of  his  inner  enthusiasm, 
was  always  first.  It  is  added,  "  Then  went  in  also  that  other  dis- 
ciple which  came  first  to  the  sepulchre,  and  he  saw  and  helieved." 
I  doubt  not  that  John  did  not  think  that  Christ  was  stolen  by 
thieves,  as  some  seemed  to  imagine,  and  the  women  then  thought, 
but  "believed"  that  he  had  "risen  from  the  dead,  and  become 
the  first-fruits  of  them  that  slept." 

After  the  resurrection,  we  find  Jesus  appearing  specially  to  John 
and  Peter;  and  John  interposing  to  correct  the  false  tradition 
that  began  to  circulate  respecting  his  own  future  destiny  upon 
earth.  "  Peter,  seeing  John,  saith  to  Jesus,  Lord,  and  what 
shall  this  man  do  ?  Jesus  saith  unto  him.  If  I  will  that  he  tarry 
till  I  come,  what  is  that  to  thee  ?  Follow  thou  me.  Then  went 
this  saying  abroad  among  the  brethren,  that  that  disciple  should 
not  die ;  yet  Jesus  said  not  unto  him.  He  shall  not  die ;  but,  If 
I  will  that  he  tarry  till  I  come,  what  is  that  to  thee  ?"  In  all 
these  transactions,  John  refrains  from  mentioning  his  own  name ; 
he  arrogates  no  glory ;  there  is  not  even  the  aspect  of  egotism  in 
his  Gospel.  He  is  willing  that  he  should  be  the  unknown  dis- 
ciple, if  his  Master  may  be  made  thereby  more  fully  and  clearly 
known.  We  learn  from  this  passage,  too,  that  tradition  is  very 
often  not  true ;  and  that  it  is  not,  therefore,  to  be  relied  upon  as 
the  rule  of  faith,  or  an  infallible,  or  even  useful,  exponent  of  it. 

After  this,  John  seems  to  disappear  from  the  stage  of  the 
sacred  narrative,  with  very  few  exceptions,  and  to  remain  at  Je- 
rusalem ;  where,  according  to  ancient  history,  he  continued  for 
fifteen  years,  ministering  to  the  wants  of  Mary  and  the  neces- 
eities  of  the  Christians  there.  We  next  find  Peter  and  John 
raising  up  a  lame  man  at  the  Beautiful  Gate  of  the  temple, 
"  who,  seeing  Peter  and  John  about  to  go  into  the  temple,  asked 
an  alms.  And  Peter,  fastening  his  eyes  upon  him,  with  John, 
said.  Look  on  us.  And  he  gave  heed  unto  them,  expecting  to 
receive  something  of  them.     Then  Peter  said,  Silver  and  gold 


THE    SEER.  23 

have  I  none,  but  such  as  I  have  give  I  thee ;  in  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth,  rise  up  and  walk."  Afterward  we 
read  that,  when  they  were  accused  of  doing  wrong,  Peter  and 
John  awed  even  their  accusers  by  their  boldness ;  for,  "  When 
they  saw  the  boldness  of  Peter  and  John,  they  took  knowledge 
of  them  that  they  had  been  with  Jesus."  You  will  notice  one 
very  remarkable  trait  in  the  character  of  these  two  apostles. 
Throughout  five  or  six  chapters  we  find  Peter  and  John  together, 
but  Peter  always  the  eloquent  spokesman,  John  always  the  silent 
witness  for  the  truth ;  and  willing  that  Peter  should  have  all  the 
Mat  of  the  orator,  if  such  were  worth  having — and  that  he 
should  shine  simply  as  an  example  and  proof  to  mankind — not 
by  the  excellence  of  his  speech,  but  by  the-  quiet  beauty  of  his 
life — that  he  had  been  with  Jesus,  and  had  been  transformed  into 
his  likeness.  How  interesting  and  instructive  is  this  fact !  John 
had  no  envy  or  jealousy  of  Peter  :  he  felt  that  Peter  had  the  gift 
of  speech,  and  that  he  had  it  not ;  he  was  contented  to  be  dumb 
because  it  was  for  the  glory  of  God,  just  as  Peter  rejoiced  to 
preach  because  it  was,  not  more,  but  equally  so.  What  should 
ministers  of  the  gospel  learn  from  this  ?  Let  him  that  has  great 
gifts  be  thankful,  and  use  them  ;  let  him  who  has  fewer,  be  not 
jealous  or  envious,  but  submissive;  and  let  both  recollect  that 
they  are  responsible,  not  for  what  they  have  not,  but  for  what  they 
have ;  and  that  what  they  have  is  not  their  own,  but  a  talent 
given  them  from  the  great  Master,  to  be  restored  to  him  with 
increase. 

The  next  occasion  on  which  John  appears,  is  at  the  synod,  con- 
vention, convocation,  or  general  assembly  of  the  Church  at  Je- 
rusalem. We  read,  in  Acts,  of  the  presence  of  certain  of  the 
apostles  on  that  occasion,  but  John's  name  is  not  mentioned; 
and  we  only  discover  that  John  was  present  by  an  allusion  of 
Paul  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians :  "  When  James,  Peter,  and 
John  perceived  the  grace  that  was  given  unto  me,  they  gave  to 
me  and  Barnabas  the  right-hand  of  fellowship." 

After  this  the  name  of  John  disappears  from  the  sacred  page, 
except  in  his  own  writings ;  he  mentions  it  only  in  the  introduc- 
tion to  the  Apocalypse,  on  which  I  am  now  commenting;  and,  as 
the  scripture  begins  with  God  in  Genesis,  it  ends  with  Christ  in 


24  THE   SEVEN  CHURCHES  OF  ASIA. 

the  Apocalypse,  and  so  fulfils  the  dying  cry  of  the  martyr  of  old; 
"  None  but  Jesus." 

After  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  about  the  end,  as  is  sup- 
posed, of  Nero's  reign,  i.  e.  A.  D.  66,  Paul  and  Peter  suffered 
martyrdom  j  but  John  was  spared,  and  was  the  only  apostle,  we 
have  reason  to  suppose,  who  survived  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem. We  are  told  in  ecclesiastical,  not  inspired  history,  that 
after  this  he  went  to  Ephesus,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  cities 
of  Asia  Minor,  to  the  Church  of  which  he  was  the  amanuensis  of 
one  of  the  epistles  on  which  I  am  commenting,  and  laboured 
round  about  that  place  with  great  zeal  and  energy  and  self- 
sacrifice  ;  and  it  is  believed  that  it  was  here  that  he  composed,  or 
rather  revised,  his  Gospel,  which  was  written  while  the  errors  of 
the  Ebeonites — a  sect  that  denied  the  deity  of  Christ — were 
abounding,  and  with  special  reference  to  the  confutation  of  those 
errors.  Uninspired  history  records  some  particulars  respecting 
the  character  of  John,  partly,  no  doubt,  true,  and  partly  apo- 
cryphal. It  is  recorded  that  he  repeatedly  drank  cups  of  poison, 
and  was  not  harmed ;  thereby  fulfilling  the  promise  of  the  Lord, 
"If  ye  shall  drink  any  deadly  thing  it  shall  not  hurt  you." 
Another  statement  contained  in  one  of  the  Fathers  is,  that  he 
pulled  down  the  temple  of  Diana  with  his  own  hand.  This  is 
evidently  a  coarse  version  of  a  great  moral  occurrence ;  it  was 
the  preaching  of  John,  the  wielding  of  "  weapons  not  carnal,  but 
mighty  through  God,"  that  caused  the  downfall  of  that  temple, 
and  the  destruction  of  thousands  of  others,  of  which  a  pagan 
writer  testifies  when  he  says  that  this  religion  spread  throughout 
the  Roman  world,  and  wherever  it  prevailed  the  temples  of  the 
gods  were  utterly  deserted. 

When  John  was  at  Ephesus,  his  two  most  intimate  companions 
were  Ignatius  and  Polycarp.  They  were  personal  friends  and 
acquaintances  of  John,  and  there  are  frequent  allusions  in  the 
writings  of  the  Fathers  to  the  fact  that  these  two  had  conversed 
with  John,  and  seen  him  in  the  flesh.  Ignatius  was  thrown  to 
the  wild  beasts  at  Rome  and  destroyed,  saying,  with  his  dying 
breath,  "  I  am  the  seed-corn  that  must  thus  be  ground  to  powder, 
that  it  may  rise  again  into  a  harvest  of  glory."  And  Polycarp, 
who  is  supposed  to  have  been  one  of  the  angels  of  the  Churches 


-fr;A  THE  SEER,  ."r/:.;:    MM  25 

•whom  John  addresses,  at  the  age  of  ninty-two  was  burned  amid 
the  flames  for  refusing  to  worship  the  image  of  the  emperoi:^  or 
to  regard  that  image  as  worthy  of  religious  honour. 

There  is  a  curious  incident,  whether  true  or  not  I  cannot  say, 
alluded  to  by  more  than  one  of  the  Fathers,  that  John  was  in 
the  habit  of  amusing  himself,  when  very  old,  with  a  partridge 
which  he  had  tamed.  One  day,  it  is  related,  a  huntsman,  who 
was  a  professor  of  the  gospel,  came  to  John  with  his  bow  and 
arrows  on  his  shoulder,  and  laughed  at  so  great  and  venerable  a 
man  finding  amusement  in  such  a  manner.  John  replied  by 
asking  the  huntsman  why  he  did  not  always  keep  his  bow  bent ; 
and  the  answer  was,  because  the  string  would  be  weakened,  and 
the  bow  lose  its  elasticity.  John  answered,  "  That  explains  the 
reason  of  my  amusing  myself 'here ;  the  bow  must  not  always  be 
on  the  stretch — the  string  must  not  be  always  under  its  severest 
tension."  We  read  that  just  before  his  departure,  John  went 
into  the  congregation  or  assembly  of  the  Christian  Church  at 
Ephesus,  supported  by  two  young  men  who  had  been  converted 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel,  and  being  unable  to  preach  to  the 
audience,  or  to  address  them  so  as  to  be  heard,  he  was  just  able 
to  give  his  dying  testimony  in  these  words : — "  Little  children,  love 
one  another."  These  were  the  last  words  that  John  uttered  upon 
earth — the  short  but  emphatic  sermon  that  he  preached  with  his 
dying  breath. 

It  is  evident  that  John  wrote  the  Apocalypse  in  Patmos,  and 
to  that  point  I  will  turn  your  attention  next  evening.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  John  wrote  the  Apocalypse.  Disputes  were  intro- 
duced into  the  Church  upon  this  subject  at  a  very  late  period  of 
the  Christian  era,  about  the  third  or  fourth  century,  when  some 
of  the  doctrines  contained  in  it  came  to  be  disputed ;  but  all  an- 
cient testimony  is  unanimous  on  this  point,  that  John,  the  evan- 
gelist and  author  of  the  three  epistles  that  bear  his  name,  wrote 
the  Apocalypse,  and  that  he  did  so  by  the  inspiration  of  the 
Spirit  of  God.  Irenaeus,  whose  name  means,  as  you  are  aware, 
"  the  Peaceful,"  and  whose  writings  are  full  of  exhortations  to 
forbearance  and  love  and  peace,  was  born  A.  D.  107,  or,  as  is 
supposed  by  others,  A.  D.  97,  which  would  be  one  year  after  the 
date  of  the  Apocalypse  itself,  has  these  words : — "  I  can  tell  the 


26  THE   SEVEN  CHURCHES   OF  ASIA. 

place  in  which  the  venerable  Polycarp  sat  and  taught,  and  his 
going  out  and  his  coming  in,  and  the  manner  of  his  life,  and  the 
form  of  his  presence,  and  the  discourses  that  he  made  to  the 
people,  and  how  he  related  his  conversations  with  John  and 
others  who  had  seen  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  how  he  related  the  say- 
ings of  John,  and  what  he  had  heard  from  him  concerning  the 
Lord,  his  miracles  and  doctrine — all  which  he  related  according 
to  the  scriptures." 

There  are  expressions  common  to  the  Gospel  and  the  Apoca- 
lypse which  bear  out  the  assertion  that  John  was  the  author  of 
this  book,  even  if  we  had  not  the  evidence  we  have,  and  the  ex- 
press declaration  of  John  himself  to  that  effect.  For  instance,  in 
the  Apocalypse  we  have  such  expressions  as  "  the  Word  of  God," 
?'.  e.  Christ ;  in  the  Gospel,  "  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word." 
In  the  Apocalypse,  Christ  is  frequently  represented  under  the 
figure  of  a  Lamb ;  in  the  Gospel  we  read,  '■'■  Behold  the  Lamb  of 
Grod,  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world  !"  In  the  Apoca- 
lypse, "He  that  is  faithful,  he  that  is  true;"  in  the  Gospel, 
Christ  is  called  "the  Truth,"  "  full  of  Tnith ;"  and  in  the  Epistle 
again,  "  He  that  is  true ;"  and  other  peculiarities  of  expression 
that  indicate  the  same  authorship  in  the  one  as  in  the  other.  In 
the  Apocalypse  we  are  told,  "  They  also  that  pierced  him  shall 
wail  because  of  him,"  and  John  is  the  only  evangelist  who  refers 
specially  to  the  fulfilment  of  that  prophecy  in  his  Gospel — "  They 
shall  look  on  him  whom  they  have  pierced."  All  these  are  little 
points  that  indicate  that  both  the  writings  are  the  production  of 
the  same  pen.  We  have  one  witness  in  primitive  days  to  the 
fact  of  St.  John  being  the  author  of  the  Apocalypse,  namely, 
Justin  Martyr,  who  was  born  in  the  year  105,  and  who  wrote  a 
dialogue  with  Trypho  the  Jew,  about  A.  D.  140 ;  he  says,  "  A  man 
whose  name  was  John,  one  of  the  apostles  of  Christ,  in  the  Re- 
velation that  was  made  to  him."  I  quote  these  simply  as  spe- 
cimens of  proof,  and  not  full  evidence,  which  might  easily  be 
given,  that  John  was  the  author  of  the  Apocalypse. 

And  now,  in  concluding  this  short  and  necessarily  imperfect 
sketch  of  the  biography  of  one  who  introduces  himself  in  the 
commencement  of  this  book  as  its  author,  let  me  add,  that  the 
very  meagerness  of  the  biography  which  I  have  laid  before  you 


THE    SEER.  27 

is  evidence  of  that  great  truth  which  pervades  all  scripture,  that 
the  apostles  were  contented  to  be  nothing,  that  Christ  might  be 
all.  They  cared  not  how  brief  their  biography  was,  if  Christ's 
was  so  full.  They  cared  not  that  their  names  should  be  lost  in 
silence,  if  the  name  of  Jesus  should  only  multiply  its  echoes 
*'from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  to  the  ends  of  the  earth." 
Let  us  imitate  their  example ;  let  us  pray  that  we  may  imbibe 
their  spirit,  that  there  may  be  less  in  our  hearts  of  human  am- 
bition, that  there  may  be  more,  in  all  we  say  and  do,  of  desire  that 
Christ  may  be  all  and  in  all. 

Let»me  notice,  in  the  next  place,  that  we  have  here  the  clearest 
disclosure  of  the  most  mysterious  truths  being  made  to  that  apostle 
who  was  characterised  by  the  greatest  love.  Truth  is  only  mighty 
when  it  is  associated  with  love.  Truth  uttered  by  the  lips  of  one 
whose  heart  is  in  the  gall  of  bitterness  may  exasperate,  but  it 
will  rarely  sanctify;  but  when  truth  is  the  weapon,  and  love  is 
the  hand  that  wields  it — when  the  truth  is  spoken  not  for  victory, 
but  from  love  to  him  that  is  ignorant  of  it — then  it  is  mighty  in- 
deed. And  so  does  Christ  honour  that  love  that  he  says,  "  If 
any  man  love  me  he  shall  be  loved  of  my  Father,  and  we  will 
come  in  unto  him,  and  make  our  abode  with  him."  The  pen  of  love 
wrote  the  Apocalypse ;  the  heart  of  love  will  best  decipher  the 
Apocalypse.  Love  to  God,  and  love  to  all  that  name  the  name 
of  Christ,  is  one  great  means  of  being  admitted  into  the  secret 
place  of  the  Most  High,  and  receiving  the  knowledge  that  is 
denied  to  others. 

In  the  next  place,  let  me  notice  that  John,  through  all  his 
writings,  dwells  most  prominently  of  all  the  evangelists  and 
writers  of  the  New  Testament,  on  the  Deity  of  our  blessed  Lord. 
His  Gospel  seems  written  especially  to  illustrate  it ;  his  Apoca- 
lypse is  pervaded  by  frequent  allusions  to  it.  The  Gospel  of  St. 
Matthew  was  chiefly  to  demonstrate  the  humanity  of  Jesus;  the 
Gospel  of  St.  John  seems  to  have  been  written  especially  to  un- 
fold the  Deity  of  Jesus ;  and  thus  the  four  Gospels  together,  like 
the  whole  Bible  itself,  present  a  perfect  Apocalypse  of  the  cha- 
racter of  the  Son  of  God. 

Let  me  add  one  feature  more.  Whoever  was  evangelist,  the 
Spirit  was  the  Teacher ;  whatever  was  the  form  or  the  size  of  the 


28  THE   SEVEN    CHURCHES   OF  ASIA. 

trumpet,  it  was  the  breath  of  God  that  sounded  through  it.  All 
the  peculiarities  of  Matthew,  of  ]Mark,  of  Luke,  of  John,  of 
Peter,  and  of  Paul,  arc  retained,  and  may  be  traced  and  con- 
trasted in  reading  their  works,  and  yet  they  all  spoke  and  wrote 
as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Some  have  said,  that 
if  the  Bible  had  been  written  as  a  beautiful  essay,  it  would  have 
been  far  more  satisfactory  to  the  minds  of  the  educated,  and  no 
less  instructive  to  the  unenlightened.  I  think  not.  It  would 
have  been  a  dull  book  and  a  dry  book ;  it  would  have  made  a  far 
feebler  impression  upon  the  hearts  of  the  bulk  of  mankind.  But 
by  using  men  of  every  cast  and  turn  of  mind  and  thought,  and 
pouring  through  these,  as  channels,  the  truth  of  God — by  not 
destroying  John,  but  inspiring  him ;  by  not  extinguishing  Peter, 
but  speaking  through  him — we  have  God's  truth  in  all  the  various 
idiosyncrasies  of  men — in  all  the  formulas  of  human  speech  ;  the 
same  in  nature,  and  distinguished  by  manifestation  only ;  so  that 
there  is  no  peculiarity  of  taste,  of  temperament  or  talent  or 
character,  that  will  not  find  something  in  the  word  of  God  suited 
to  it,  and  calculated  to  instruct  the  soul  of  him  that  reads  it. 
Let  us  bless  God  for  the  Bible,  then,  as  it  is.  Be  assured,  that 
the  more  you  study  it,  the  more  you  will  love  it ;  and  they  that 
know  that  book  best  will  have  the  deepest  and  most  indelible  im- 
pression that  God  is  its  Author,  and  truth  is  its  matter,  and 
eternal  joy  its  issue. 


LECTURE  n.    / 

JOHN    IN    PATMOS. 

"  I  John,  who  also  am  your  brother,  and  companion  in  tribulation,  and  in 
the  kingdom  and  patience  of  Jesus  Christ,  was  in  the  isle  that  is  called  Patmos, 
for  the  word  of  God,  and  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ."    Rev.  i.  9. 

I  MUST  in  this  lecture  continue  the  introductory  remarks  which 
I  made  last  Lord's-day  evening,  on  the  peculiar  position  of  him 
who  was  selected  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  be  the  seer  of  things 
that  were,  and  the  inspired  prophet  of  things  that  were  to  come. 
On  looking  at  the  words  which  I  have  read,  and  at  the  era  in 
which  these  words  were  recorded,  I  see  two  great  kingdoms 
coming  into  collision,  then  prominent  upon  the  stage  of  the  world, 
and  destined  to  throw  up  in  that  collision  remarkable  and  start- 
ling aspects.  The  one  kingdom  was  then  in  almost  its  meridian 
power,  splendour,  influence,  and  greatness;  the  last  of  the  Cassars, 
named  Domitian,  was  its  head.  The  other  kingdom,  in  contrast 
to  this,  was  then  almost  in  its  cradle ;  the  last  of  the  apostles, 
John,  was  its  preacher,  and  its  Sovereign  was  in  the  skies,  and 
on  the  throne  of  his  glory.  These  two  kingdoms  were  present 
to  the  mind  of  John  throughout  this  remarkable  prophecy.  The 
one  had  all  the  powers  of  Caesar  at  its  back — the  other  felt  em- 
bosomed in  the  promises  of  Christ. 

John  was  banished  to  Patmos  for  this  crime — "  the  testimony 
of  Jesus  and  the  confession  of  his  name."  We  are  assured  by 
contemporaneous  writers,  as  well  as  records  that  have  survived 
the  age  in  which  the  Apocalypse  was  written,  that  to  preach  a 
religion  new  to  the  Roman  empire  was  a  crime  branded  by  the 
name  and  chargeable  with  the  guilt  of  sedition ;  and  those  who 
were  thus  guilty  of  preaching  a  new  religion  were  sent  to  solitary 
and  deserted  places  of  banishment  under  the  scepter  of  Caesar. 
Among  the  rest  John  was  banished  to  the  isle  of  Patmos,  where 

3«  29 


30  THE    SEVEN  CHURCHES   OF  ASIA. 

he  was  obliged,  at  the  age  of  ninety,  to  work  in  the  mines  and 
quarries  for  the  profit  of  Caesar,  and  as  a  punishment  for  the 
crime  of  which  he  was  denounced  as  guilty.  At  this  period  John 
must  have  reached  the  age  of  ninety ;  and  to  be  condemned  to 
labour  in  the  mines,  or  to  excavate  in  the  quarries  of  Patmos,  under 
a  heathen  taskmaster,  at  such  an  age,  was  surely  no  slight  punish- 
ment ;  and  if  John  had  not  been  sustained  by  bright  hopes  that 
spanned  the  chasm  that  lay  between  him  and  his  home — if  he 
had  not  had  within  him  compensatory  joys  which  Caesar  could  not 
give,  and  which  all  the  cruelty  of  Caesar  cut  not  crush — he  had 
perished  in  the  midst  of  his  punishment,  and,  humanly  speaking, 
the  bright  visions  of  the  Apocalypse  had  been  reserved  for  another 
seer  to  reflect  on  the  church  and  on  the  world. 

In  order  to  give  you  some  idea  of  Patmos,  now  called  Patimo 
or  Patmosa,  I  have  borrowed  two  or  three  descriptions  of  it ;  one 
of  the  most  interesting  is  that  given  by  the  Rev.  Hardwell  Home, 
in  his  "  Landscape  Illustrations  of  the  Bible,"  a  work  containing 
sketches  of  the  principal  places  alluded  to  in  the  scriptures ;  he 
says  :  "  Patmos,  now  called  Patimo  or  Patmosa,  is  a  small  island 
in  the  Egean  Sea,  between  twenty-five  and  thirty  miles  in  cir- 
cumference. Its  aspect  is  forbidding  and  cheerless,  and  the 
shores  are  in  most  places  steep  and  precipitate.  The  Romans 
used  this  barren  spot  as  a  place  of  exile ;  hither  the  Apostle 
John  was  sent  for  the  word  of  God,  and  for  the  testimony  of 
Jesus ;  and  here  he  wrote  the  Apocalypse  or  Revelation  which 
bears  his  name."  This,  I  believe,  is  a  mistake ;  the  Apocalypse 
was  written  after  he  had  escaped  from,  or  was  permitted  to  leave, 
the  isle  of  Patmos.  It  is  not  known  how  long  his  banishment  con- 
tinued ;  but  it  is  generally  supposed  that  he  was  released  upon 
the  death  of  Domitian,  which  happened  A.  D.  96,  when  he  retired 
to  Ephesus.  The  acropolis  or  citadel  of  ancient  Patmos  was 
discovered  in  February,  18 17,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Whittington,  on  the 
summit  of  a  hill  which  rises  precisely  on  the  narrow  isthmus  that 
unites  the  two  divisions  of  the  island,  and  separates  the  principal 
harbour  from  Port  Merica.  After  some  research  he  discovered 
very  considerable  remains  of  a  large  fortress.  This  rock  or  hill 
is  not  so  lofty  as  that  on  which  the  modern  town  and  monastery 
are  built  j  but  ita  singular  situation  between  two  ports  render  it 


I  JOHN   IN  PATMOS.  ■      "'""  SI 

even  more  commanding.  These  remains  lie  on  the  northern  side 
of  the  hill,  and  from  the  nature  of  the  ground,  the  fortress  must 
have  formed  an  irregular  triangle.  The  wall  appears  to  have 
been  seven  feet  thick,  and  the  towers  measure  fourteen  feet  in 
front.  The  surface  of  the  soil  in  its  neighbourhood  is  much 
heaped  with  piles  of  ruins,  and  the  whole  area  is  thickly  strewn 
with  fragments  of  ancient  pottery. 

This  island  is  described  by  Mr.  Emerson  (who  visited  it  a  few 
years  since)  as  having  every  appearance  of  being  of  volcanic 
origin,  and  consisting  of  a  rugged  rock,  with  a  sprinkling  of  soil, 
and  a  slight  covering  of  verdure,  which,  with  the  sterility  of  the 
earth  and  the  baking  heat  of  the  sun,  is  so  crisp  as  almost  to 
crumble  in  the  hand.  Here  are  very  numerous  churches,  many 
of  which  are  opened  only  on  the  anniversary  festival  of  the  saints 
to  whom  they  are  respectively  dedicated.  The  modern  town  of 
Patmos,  which  is  the  only  one  on  the  island,  and  the  monastery 
of  St.  John,  crown  the  summit  of  the  hill,  about  three-quarters 
of  an  hour's  walk  from  the  seashore,  and  which  commands  a 
very  extensive  prospect  over  the  surrounding  islands.  The  mo- 
nastery consists  of  a  number  of  towers  and  bastions,  having  much 
more  the  air  of  a  military  than  a  monastic  edifice.  It  is  said  to 
have  been  erected  by  St.  Christodoulos,  in  honour  of  the  Apostle 
John,  and  under  the  auspices  of  the  Byzantine  emperor,  Alexis 
Comnenes,  in  the  year  1117,  in  order  to  serve  at  once  as  a  resi- 
dence for  the  brethren  of  St.  John,  and  as  a  protection  to  the 
inhabitants  against  the  incursions  of  pirates.  It  now  contains 
accommodation  for  a  numerous  society  of  monks,  who  are  under 
the  protection  of  the  bishop  of  Samos.  By  the  special  permis- 
sion of  the  Grand  Mufti  of  Constantinople,  they  enjoy  the  rare 
privilege  of  a  bell  to  summon  the  brethren  to  their  devotions, 
while  all  the  other  religious  foundations  in  the  East — the  mo- 
nastery on  Mount  Athos  not  excepted — are  forced  to  convene 
their  inmates  to  prayers  by  the  striking  a  hammer  against  a 
crooked  bar  of  iron.  This  much-envied  privilege  of  the  monks 
at  Patmos  is  ascribed  to  the  high  veneration  in  which  the  Turks 
are  said  to  hold  the  memory  of  St.  John.  Like  most  of  the  other 
Greek  churches,  the  church  belonging  to  the  monastery  is  gaudy, 
without  either  taste  or  elegance.     But  the  vestibule  and  the  in- 


32  THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES   OF   ASIA. 

terior  are  painted  with  semi-Chinese  heads  of  Christ  and  the 
apostles,  and  the  Parragia,  or  Virgin  Mary,  appears  in  every 
corner.  The  library  of  the  monks  contains  a  few  printed  books, 
chiefly  the  works  of  the  Greek  fathers,  and  also  a  considerable 
number  of  manuscripts,  which  seem  to  have  been  assorted  and 
preserved  with  care.  The  hermitage  of  St.  John  lies  about  mid- 
way between  the  beach  and  the  convent ;  it  is  approached  by  a 
rugged  pathway,  one  side  of  which  encloses,  or  rather  is  formed 
by  the  sacred  cave  in  which  the  evangelist  wrote  his  Revelation. 
Before  the  erection,  according  to  Mr.  Emerson,  it  must  have 
been  rather  an  exposed  situation,  as  it  is  pierced  but  a  very 
slight  way  into  the  rock ;  and  as  the  monks  carry  on  a  very  pro- 
fitable traflSc  by  disposing  of  pieces  of  the  stone  for  the  cure  of 
diseases,  a  great  portion  of  the  present  excavation  may  be  attri- 
buted to  their  industry.  Two  chinks  in  the  rock  above  are 
pointed  out  as  apertures  through  which  St.  John  received  the 
divine  communications.  They  are  deemed  to  be  incomparably 
sacred,  and  in  point  of  sanctity  are  second  only  to  the  holy  se- 
pulchre at  Jerusalem.  The  inhabitants  of  Patmos  are  about 
4000  in  number,  and  their  appearance  is  perfectly  consonant  to 
the  barren  aspect  of  the  island  :  the  men  being  clothed  in  dirty 
cotton  rags,  and  the  women  (who  are  handsome)  being  literally 
bundles  of  filth  ! 

Such  is  the  description  of  Patmos,  the  scene  of  the  exile  of 
St.  John,  as  it  has  been  given  by  modem  travellers.  The  present 
inhabitants  of  Patmos  seem  to  have  some  perception  at  least  of 
the  claims  of  Christianity  j  but  in  the  days  of  St.  John  it  is 
supposed  there  was  not  a  single  Christian  in  the  isle  to  associate 
with  him,  or  to  fulfil  the  condition  of  the  promise,  "  Where  two 
or  three  are  met  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst 
of  them."  But  one  rejoices  to  know,  that  when  there  is  no 
visible  assembly  of  the  saints  of  God,  there  is  a  chancel — the 
holiest  one  in  the  universe — the  chancel  of  a  regenerated  heart — 
in  which  Christ  delights  to  dwell,  and  which  he  consecrates  by 
his  presence,  and  from  which  he  receives  the  acceptable  worship 
while  he  pours  down  his  benediction  on  the  worshipper ;  teaching 
us  that  wheresoever  there  is  a  Christian  there  Christ  is.  In  the 
dark  and  dreary  crypts  in  which  the  martyrs  have  pined,  in  the 


JOHN   IN   TATMOS.  33 

Manimettine  prison  at  Rome  in  which  the  apostles  are  said  to 
have  been  imprisoned,  in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth,  on  barren 
moors,  upon  the  ocean's  bosom — wheresoever  there  is  a  child  of 
God,  there  the  Lord  of  glory  delights  to  be  present,  to  comfort, 
to  strengthen,  and  to  sustain  him. 

John,  placed  in  this  isle,  you  may  easily  conceive,  must  have 
had,  during  and  after  his  toils,  many  interesting  reflections.  Let 
me  suppose  that  he  looked,  in  the  first  place,  around  him ;  he 
there  saw  on  every  side  a  desert  isle,  the  type  of  a  world  that  sin 
had  polluted  by  its  touch,  and  yet  the  norm  of  a  world  that  he 
who  came  to  redeem  it  shall  retrieve  and  remake.  In  that  barren 
isle  John  could  hear  the  echoes  of  that  voice  which  said,  "  Be- 
hold, I  make  all*  things  new,"  and  could  see  reflected  in  it,  by  the 
eye  of  unfainting  hope  and  firm  faith,  all  the  splendours  and 
glories  of  the  New-Jerusalem ;  and  the  recollection  that  he  had 
a  franchise  that  admitted  him  to  be  a  citizen  of  the  Jerusalem 
above,  compensated  him  for  the  pain  and  punishment  felt  in  being 
an  exile  from  the  cities  and  the  sway  of  the  sceptre  of  the  rulers 
of  this  world.  Are  any  of  you  oppressed  and  broken  down  by  a 
thraldom  that  is  only  exceeded  by  the  drudgery  of  John  in  the 
mines  of  Patmos  ? — in  John  you  have  a  companion  in  tribulation. 
There  are  subterranean  mines  in  London,  cellars  below  shops, 
which  have  been  described  to  me,  in  which  the  young  men — 
many  of  them  my  countrymen — are  doomed,  not  by  Domitian, 
who  had  some  mercy  in  his  composition,  but  by  mammon,  who 
has  none,  or  by  his  slaves,  who  perhaps  call  themselves  Chris- 
tians— to  drudge  and  toil  and  die.  If  I  address  any  such  th's 
evening,  I  say,  use  the  means  of  amelioration  if  they  are  within 
your  reach,  and  wherever  there  is  a  Christian  you  will  have  one 
that  sympathizes  with  you ;  but  when  that  amelioration  cannot 
be,  try  and  draw  into  that  subterranean  scene  of  drudgery  and 
toil  bright  visions  of  that  better  city  in  which  there  shall  be  no 
sin,  and  therefore  no  sorrow,  but  where  all  are  free,  and  holy,  and 
happy  forever. 

We  can  easily  believe  that  John  not  only  looked  around  him, 
but  that  he  also  took  a  retrospect  of  the  past.  Situated  in  Pat- 
mos, he  may  have  recollected  sixty  years  before,  when  Jesus  rose 
from  the  dead,  ascended  into  heaven,  and  took  his  seat  at  his 


34  THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES   OF   ASIA. 

Father's  right  hand,  John  recollected  that  touching  scene  when 
he  rose  from  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  a  cloud  received  him  out 
of  sight ;  and  he  may  have  recollected  the  voice  that  came  from 
the  cloud,  "  Ye  men  of  Galilee,  why  stand  ye  here  gazing  up 
into  heaven  ?  this  same  Jesus,  which  is  taken  up  from  you  into 
heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as  ye  have  seen  him  go 
into  heaven."  John  also  recollected  the  prophecy  of  our  Lord, 
recorded  in  Matthew  xxiv.,  and  he  saw  that  prophecy  in  all  the 
terrible  results  of  its  performance  to  the  very  letter.  John  had 
seen  the  Roman  eagle  spread  its  wings  where  the  cherubim  were; 
he  had  beheld  the  firebrands  of  Caesar's  soldiers  blazing  amid  the 
carved  work  of  the  sanctuary  of  God ;  he  had  viewed  the 
slaughter  of  the  Jews — so  great  that  the  streets  ran  with  their 
blood ;  and  he  had  seen  the  refugees  who  escaped  from  Jerusalem 
dispersed  and  scattered  through  every  land — evidences  to  heaven 
and  earth  of  the  faithfulness  of  the  promises  and  the  reality  of 
the  threats  of  God.  John,  too,  had  seen  the  arch  raised  by 
Vespasian  to  commemorate  the  destruction  of  the  Jews,  and  the 
remains  of  which  are  to  be  seen  to  this  day,  on  which  is  repre- 
sented the  shewbread  and  the  seven  candlesticks.  He  had  seen 
also  the  coins  that  were  struck,  some  of  which  are  still  preserved 
in  the  collections  of  numismatologists,  on  which  Judah  is  repre- 
sented seated  under  a  palm-tree,  weeping,  with  these  words 
written  beneath  :  "  Sudea  Capta" — struck  to  commemorate  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem.  And  thus  the  very  wrecks  of  Jeru- 
salem reveal  the  record,  "  Thy  word  is  truth ;"  and  the  paeans 
and  shouts  of  victory  raised  by  Caesar's  soldiers  announced  that 
Jesus  was  the  Messiah.  All  this  John  had  witnessed,  but  from 
the  midst  of  it  he  saw  issuing  a  new  and  glorious  power,  despised 
by  the  great  and  the  wise  of  mankind,  which  was  destined  to 
transform  the  world  by  its  touch,  to  prevail  against  the  craft  of 
Satan,  against  the  wiles  of  statesmen,  against  the  wisdom  of 
philosophy,  against  the  policy  of  princes,  against  the  power  of 
Roman  eloquence,  and  not  to  rest  in  its  progress  till  the  king- 
doms of  this  world  shall  have  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  God 
and  of  his  Christ.  John  saw  this  mighty  principle — the  Gospel 
of  Truth — prevailing  in  various  lands,  erecting  churches  in  Thessa- 
lonica,  in  Berea,  in  Athens,  in  Derbe,  in  Antiocb,  in  Jerusalem, 


JOHN   IN   PATxMOS.  35 

in  Syria,  in  Galatia,  in  Ephesus;  leavening  all  classes  with  its 
principles,  and  snatching  trophies  from  Caesar's  household,  and 
the  vine  that  was  sown  in  Jerusalem  beginning  to  twine  its 
tendrils  around  the  sceptre  and  add  new  beauty  and  new  glory 
to  the  diadem  of  all  the  Caesars.  John  saw  that  "  mustard-tree," 
a  sapling  that  was  destined  to  grow  and  spread  till  it  over- 
shadowed the  whole  earth ;  and  that  spring  from  the  Rock  wLich 
was  to  prove  a  mighty  stream,  and  to  go  forth  and  water  every 
region  of  the  world,  till  it  merged  in  the  everlasting  and  glorious 
main.  John  saw,  too,  what  he  must  have  regarded  with  great 
grief,  intermingling  tares  of  error  and  of  superstition  blending 
with  Christian  truth;  heathen  ceremonies  grafted  upon  the  sim- 
plicity of  Christian  worship;  the  humble  fishermen  of  Galilee 
hoping  to  be  the  lords,  and  labouring  to  become  the  despots  of 
the  world ;  dark  shadows  settling  on  that  clear  horizon ;  weeds 
bursting  into  vitality  and  mingling  with  that  auspicious  field  ;  a 
small  cloud,  "  like  a  man's  hand,"  spreading  and  expanding  till 
it  threatened  to  cover  the  whole  canopy  of  heaven  ;  and  the  seed 
of  that  upas-tree  sown,  under  whose  baneful  influence  all  have 
perished  that  have  placed  themselves  beneath  it,  and  the  con- 
sumption and  destruction  of  which  has  been  the  desire  and  the 
prayer  of,  as  it  has  been  the  promise  given  to,  all  the  people 
of  God. 

Thus  then  John  looked  upon  the  past,  and  he  saw  the  fulfil- 
ment of  God's  threatenings  in  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  He 
looked  around  at  the  present,  and  saw  the  spread  of  the  gospel 
of  Jesus ;  he  looked  into  the  future,  and  saw  looming  into  view 
that  dark  superstition  which  Paul  described  when  he  said,  "  The 
mystery  of  iniquity  doth  already  work."  After  having  thus  then 
looked  at  the  position  of  John,  and  at  what  one  may  suppose  to 
have  been  John's  views  and  feelings,  let  me  explain  what  is 
meant  by  the  phraseology  here  employed,  "  I  teas  in  the  Spirit 
on  the  Lord's  day."  I  conceive  that  this  means  simply,  "  I  was 
under  the  influence  and  special  direction  of  the  Spirit  of  God." 
Thus  in  the  Gospel  of  Mark  we  read  of  one  "  who  had  an  un- 
clean spirit ;"  but  in  the  original  it  is  "  in  an  unclean  spirit," 
plainly  showing  that  the  expression  "in  an  unclean  spirit"  is 
equivalent  to  being  under  the  influence  of  an  unclean  spirit ;  and 


36  THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES   OF    ASIA. 

the  parallel  expression  in  the  Apocalypse,  "  I  was  in  the  Spirit/' 
plainly  signifies,  "  I  was  under  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
of  God."  I  do  not  think,  therefore,  that  such  explanations  as 
have  been  given  by  some  commentators  are  correct,  that  John  was 
in  a  trance,  or  an  ecstasy,  however  well  meant  these  expositions 
may  be.  As  far  as  the  word  ecstasy  means  "  being  out  of  self," 
it  may  be  properly  used,  for  John  was  in  the  Spirit,  and,  in  that 
sense,  not  in  himself;  he  was  under  the  special  inspiration  and 
guidance  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  Scenes  too  bright  to  be  borne  by 
man,  prospects  of  grandeur  and  beauty  which  man  could  not 
foresee,  shadows  which  man  dared  not  forebode,  were  all  to  be  un- 
folded and  made  conspicuous  to  the  mind  of  John,  and  it  needed 
that  supernatural  unction  to  enable  and  prepare  him  to  behold  and 
bear  supernatural  scenes.  John  was  ''  in  the  Spirit"  on  a  spe- 
cial day — "  on  the  Lord's  day."  I  wish  to  allude  to  this  circum- 
stance particularly,  because  it  is  evidence  of  a  great  truth  that 
some  are  disposed  to  deny,  that  the  Sabbath  was  observed  by 
apostolic  precept  and  apostolic  example,  not  upon  the  seventh  but 
upon  the  first  day  of  the  week.  The  word  occurs  in  several  pas- 
sages of  the  New  Testament.  The  change  began  as  early  as  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  when  we  read  that  the  apostles  were  met 
together  "  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,"  and  the  Spirit  of  God 
was  poured  out  upon  them.  We  find  it  mentioned  that  the  dis- 
ciples met  together  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  "  to  break  bread," 
i.  e.  to  communicate.  Again,  we  have  Paul  incidentally  telling 
the  Corinthians  to  lay  aside,  or  make  their  collections  for  the 
poor  on  "  the  first  day  of  the  week,"  language  which  implies  that 
it  was  a  well  known  day,  disputed  by  none,  but  observed  and 
hallowed  by  all.  So  we  read  here  in  the  very  commencement  of 
the  Apocalypse,  "  I  was  in  the  Spirit  on  the  Lord's  day,"  mean- 
ing that  day  which  {fas  consecrated  to  the  worship  and  service 
especially  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  alleged,  however,  that 
the  fourth  commandment  makes  the  seventh  day  obligatory.  I 
answer,  it  makes  obligatory  two  things,  the  moral  part,  or  a 
seventh  portion  of  our  time ;  the  ceremonial  part,  or  a  recurring 
seventh  day  on  which  to  hallow  that  seventh  portion  of  time. 
What  is  moral  is  permanent  as  the  stars;  what  is  ceremonial  is 
changeable  as  the  clouds  that  pass  over  them.     The  moral  part 


JOHN  IN  PATMOS.  37 

of  that  commandment  may  be  observed  in  every  country,  age, 
and  clime ;  the  ceremonial  part  cannot  be  observed  precisely  at 
the  same  moment  in  every  part  of  the  globe.  For  instance,  our 
Sunday  here  is  not  Sunday  at  the  antipodes.  The  farther  east 
you  go  the  earlier  the  day  Begins ;  so  that  persons  who  are  not 
noting  very  carefully  the  chronology,  and  making  allowance  for 
change  of  longitude,  will  in  sailing  from  the  antipodes  lose  a  day, 
or  miscalculate  the  days  of  the  week.  It  is  plain,  therefore,  that 
if  the  seventh  day  was  obligatory,  that  day  which  was  the  seventh 
to  the  Jew  could  not  be  that  period  which  would  be  the  seventh 
day  to  the  inhabitant  of  the  other  side  of  the  globe.  But  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat,  nor  drink,  nor  ceremony,  but  right- 
eousness, and  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  moral 
part  of  the  commandment  therefore,  requiring  a  seventh  portion 
of  our  time,  is  obligatory  everywhere ;  the  ceremonial  part  is  to 
be  fixed  by  apostolic  precedent,  or  by  the  exact  and  indisputable 
prescription  of  God.  We  find  that  immediately  after  the  resur- 
rection of  Jesus,  converts  from  the  Jewish  religion  observed  both 
the  Saturday  and  the  Sunday,  though  the  Gentile  converts  una- 
nimously observed  only  the  first  day  of  the  week.  Let  me 
quote  from  the  earliest  Christian  writers  one  or  two  short  illus- 
trations of  this.  I  do  not  quote  the  Fathers  as  a  Tractarian 
would  quote  them,  as  if  they  formed  part  of  our  rule  of  faith, 
or  as  if  their  expositions  of  the  Bible  were  equal  to  those  even 
of  a  Matthew  Henry,  a  Scott,  a  Barnes,  or  any  other  intelligent 
commentator.  The  fact  is,  we  can  quote  from  the  Fathers  sen- 
timents and  explanations  contradictory  of  each  other.  As  ex- 
positors of  the  Scripture  they  are  excedingly  imperfect ;  as  wit- 
nesses of  facts  their  testimony  is  most  invaluable.  "We  care  not 
whether  it  be  Julian  the  Apostate,  or  Porphyry,  or  Justin  Martyr 
that  witnesses  to  a  fact ;  we  accept  the  fact  on  competent  testi- 
mony. We  reject  for  several  reasons  their  expositions  of  the 
Scripture.  Justin  Martyr,  who  wrote  forty  years  after  John,  but 
who  was  born  before  John  died,  makes  the  following  remark  : 
"  On  the  day  called  Sunday  all  Christians  meet  together  for  re- 
ligious worship."  (^Apology,  c.  ix.  17.)  The  word  apology,  I 
may  add,  is  used  in  an  ecclesiastical  sense,  and  means  a  defence ; 

thus  Watson's  Apology  does  not  mean  that  the  Bible  needs  a 

4 


38  THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES   OF   ASIA. 

luodern  apology,  but  simply  a  defence  or  vindication.  So  Justin 
Martyr,  in  vindicating  the  Christians  to  the  emperor,  gives  an 
account  of  their  principles  and  ceremonies.  Another  of  the  five 
apostolic  Fathers  says,  "  We  observed  the  eighth  day  with  glad- 
ness," i.  e.  the  first  day  of  the  week,  on  which  Jesus  rose  from 
the  dead.  Another  Father,  who  wrote  about  one  hundred  years 
after  the  death  of  John,  says,  "  "We  celebrate  Sunday  as  a  joyful 
day,  and  on  that  day  we  think  it  wrong  to  fast  or  to  kneel  in 
prayer :  we  always  stand  in  prayer  on  the  Lord's  day."  And 
Ignatius,  who,  as  I  told  you  last  Lord's-day  evening,  was  the 
friend  and  disciple  of  John,  thus  writes,  "Let  every  one  who 
loves  Christ  keep  holy  the  Lord's  day."  These  are  evidences, 
then,  that  this  day  was,  by  the  example  of  our  Lord,  and  by  the 
precedent  of  the  apostles,  acquiesced  in  as  the  Christian  Sabbath, 
and  from  that  day  to  this  has  been  revered  and  treated  as  such. 
There  is  far  more  involved  in  the  hallowing  of  the  Sabbath  than 
many  are  disposed  to  allow.  The  enemies  of  the  Christian  faith 
have  failed  to  extirpate  Christianity  from  the  world.  They  have 
signally  failed  to  invalidate  the  claims  of  the  Bible  to  be  a  com- 
munication from  God ;  they  therefore  try  now  to  degrade  and 
blot  out  and  expunge  the  Sabbath  from  the  veneration  of  saints 
and  from  the  fear  of  sinners.  They  do  so,  not  by  fagot  and 
flame,  which,  thanks  be  to  God,  in  our  free  land,  they  cannot  em- 
ploy J  nor  yet  by  argument,  and  logic,  and  fact,  which,  thanks  to 
the  same  God  for  the  reason  he  has  given  us,  they  cannot  success- 
fully employ ;  they  labour  to  extinguish  the  Sabbath  by  other  and 
more  seductive  means — by  the  railway,  the  steamboat,  the  tea 
gardens,  the  various  scenes  of  folly,  and  dissipation,  and  amuse- 
ment, and  profit  in  the  neighbourhood  of  a  great  metropolis. 
It  is  a  painful  fact  that  more  people  leave  London  on  Sunday 
morning  by  the  rail  and  the  steamboat  than  meet  together  in  all 
the  churches  and  chapels  that  are  in  it.  Sad  it  is  that  God  in 
his  providence  should  have  given  us  such  instruments  of  rapid 
communication,  and  instead  of  making  the  additional  time  they 
leave  us  a  reason  for  hallowing  his  Sabbath,  we  turn  them  into 
reasons  for  greater  desecration  of  it.  It  was  not  Voltaire  alone 
that  deluged  Paris  with  atheism,  but  the  extinction  of  its  Sabbaths 
before  he  was  born.    It  was  not  Frederic  the  Great  that  destroyed 


JOHN    IN   PATMOS.  89 

Christianity  in  Vienna,  but  it  was  the  desecration  of  its  Sabbaths 
before  he  was  placed  upon  his  throne.  Get  the  Sabbath  embo- 
somed in  the  hearts  of  a  Christian  people,  and  there  is  a  gua- 
rantee and  pledge  stronger  than  acts  of  parliament  can  confer,  that 
Christianity  will  bloom  and  flourish  in  their  land. 

It  is  a  well  known  law,  too,  that  man  must  have  a  statedly  re- 
turning respite  from  labour.  It  has  been  found  and  proved  by 
some  distinguished  naturalist,  that  a  horse  worked  seven  days  a 
week,  year  after  year,  will  not  do  so  much  work,  nor  live  so  long, 
as  a  horse  worked  only  six  days  in  a  week.  And  it  has  been 
proved  with  equal  satisfaction  that  a  man  with  mind  and  body 
ceaselessly  on  the  stretch,  will  not  only  not  long  enjoy  health, 
but  will  soon  be  the  inmate  of  a  premature  grave.  This  is  not 
fancy,  but  fact,  the  result  of  extensive  experiment  and  induction. 
The  heathens  felt  that  they  must  have  periods  of  relaxation,  and 
therefore  they  had  their  holidays  dedicated  to  their  gods.  The 
atheists  of  France  could  not  do  without  a  Sabbath,  and  therefore 
they  had  decades,  or  a  period  at  the  end  of  ten  days  instead  of 
seven.  It  is  wrought  into  the  very  constitution  of  humanity  that 
man  must  have  an  alternation  of  toil  and  rest  before  he  can  do 
the  greatest  work  and  enjoy  the  greatest  happiness.  If  this  be 
so,  (and  we  cannot  deny  it,)  that  man  must  have  a  respite,  the 
question  is.  How  shall  that  respite  best  be  regulated,  so  that  man 
shall  enjoy  health  and  strength  upon  the  one  hand,  and  that 
season  of  rest  not  be  abused  or  perverted  by  man's  wickedness  on 
the  other  hand.  Take  away  the  restraints  of  the  Christian  Sab- 
bath, and  we  shall  have  the  Saturnalia  of  the  heathen,  or  the 
abominations  of  the  continent  of  Europe;  but  retain  all  the 
sanctifying  influences  and  wise  restraints  of  the  Christian  Sabbath, 
and  we  shall  then  have  man  refreshed  by  the  change  of  subject, 
his  mind  turned  from  the  cares  of  business  to  the  hopes,  the 
prospects,  the  joys,  the  truths  of  the  gospel ;  and  it  will  be  found 
that  long  life  is  the  accompaniment  of  righteousness,  and  that 
they  who  "  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness 
shall  have  all  other  things  added  unto  them."  I  s^peak  thus  of 
the  Sabbath,  because  it  is  more  assailed  at  this  moment,  probably, 
than  any  one  institution  of  society.  One  delights  to  see  that 
efforts  have  been  made  to  interest  the  very  humblest  ranks  in  its 


40  THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES   OF  ASIA. 

maintenance,  and  that  a  peasant  girl  has  lately  written  a  very 
forcible  defence  of  the  Sabbath. 

Greater  efforts  have  been  made  at  various  times  to  sap  the 
foundations  of  the  Sabbath  than  directly  and  ostensibly  to  destroy 
the  claims  of  Christianity,  or  the  obligation  of  baptism  and  the 
Lord's  supper.  The  Puseyite  longs  for  the  Maypole  and  the 
Book  of  Sports  as  soon  as  the  morning  service  is  over;  the  Roman 
Catholic  desires  to  see  the  playhouse  open  when  mass  is  finished ; 
the  skeptic  hopes  for  the  extinction  of  the  Sabbath,  because  it 
reasons  in  his  conscience  of  righteousness,  and  temperance,  and 
judgment  to  come ;  the  debauchee  votes  for  the  cessation  of  the 
Sabbath,  in  order  that  he  may  have  full  swing  for  all  the  passions 
of  his  depraved  heart  without  a  solitary  check ;  and  the  covetous 
man  prefers  to  have  the  post-office  open  and  the  shutters  of  his 
shop  window  down,  that  he  may  buy  and  sell,  and  get  gain, 
though  the  result  will  be,  that  he  will  fail  probably  in  the  earthly 
aim  he  has  in  view,  and  will  lose  his  own  soul  in  seeking  to  be 
rich  at  the  expense  of  the  commands  and  requirements  Of  Grod. 

John  being  thus  in  the  Spirit  on  the  Lord's  day,  heard  the 
voice  as  of  a  trumpet  behind  him.  This  allusion  is  fraught  with 
useful  and  instructive  ideas  to  every  one  that  studies  it.  When 
the  morning  service  of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  was  about  to  be- 
gin, a  trumpet  announced  the  fact ;  when  the  year  of  jubilee 
commenced,  the  silver  trumpet  announced  it  too ;  and  the  sound 
of  a  trumpet  was  the  impressive  introduction  to  a  great  truth,  or 
to  a  glorious  scene,  at  all  times :  when  God  made  his  appearance 
on  Mount  Sinai,  his  presence  was  ushered  in  by  the  sound  of  a 
trumpet;  whatever  public  proclamation  was  made  among  the 
Jews  was  made  by  the  sound  of  a  trumpet.  Thus  we  learn  that 
the  sound  of  a  trumpet  announcing  the  appearance  of  Christ, 
was  indirect  evidence  that  Christ  was  God ;  and  secondly,  we 
learn  that  the  sounding  of  a  trumpet  preceding  the  scenes  of 
this  book,  is  evidence  that  it  was  intended  for  public  perusal,  not 
for  private  and  individual  instruction  only.  The  voice  said  to 
John,  "  Write."  This  is  an  answer  to  those  who  say  Christ 
never  commanded  any  portion  of  Scripture  to  be  written ;  here  is 
one  portion  expressly  commanded  by  him  to  be  written.  There 
is  nothing  for  which  we  ought  to  be  more  thankful  to  God  than 


JOHN   IN  PATMOS.  41 

this,  that  the  Bible  is  a  written  book.  If  the  Bible  had  been 
left  to  tradition,  we  should  have  lost  the  truth  long  ago.  Truth, 
left  to  the  corrupting  influence  of  human  tradition,  would  have 
been  perverted  into  some  monstrous  and  extravagant  legend. 

What  John  was  to  write  was  to  be  addressed  to  seven  churches. 
Why  this  number?  There  were  more  churches  in  Asia  than 
seven.  This  number  was  probably  chosen  because  seven  is  re- 
garded in  Scripture  as  a  perfect  number.  Thus  the  seven  days 
constitute  one  week ;  the  seven  prismatic  colours  constitute  the 
pure  white  light;  seven  sounds,  or  notes,  constitute  the  perfect 
scale  in  music ;  seven  spiritual  beings  the  one  Holy  Spirit ;  the 
seven  churches  represent  the  one  catholic  or  universal  church. 
Some  have  suggested  that  these  seven  churches  arc  to  be  regarded 
as  chronologically  distinguished ;  Ephesus  the  first,  denoting  the 
state  of  the  church  during  the  first  few  centuries,  and  Laodicea 
the  last,  representing  the  state  of  the  church  just  previous  to  the 
Millennium.  I  do  not  see  that  there  is  any  foundation  for  this 
view.  I  think  the  addresses  to  the  seven  churches  are  applicable 
to  every  age,  and  that  John  writes  them  just  "as  Paul  writes  to 
the  Romans,  or  the  Corinthians,  or  the  Philippians;  and  we  are 
to  gather  from  these  addresses  not  prophetic  intimations  of  what 
shall  be,  but  practical  instruction  to  all  the  people  of  Christ,  of 
every  name  and  denomination  throughout  the  world,  for  their 
progressive  improvement  in  holiness,  and  their  present  joy  and 
peace  in  prospect  of  the  glory  of  God. 

I  have  so  far  explained  in  these  prefatory  remarks  the  circum- 
stances of  John,  and  the  origin  of  the  addresses  to  the  seven 
churches  of  Asia.  Let  me  conclude  this  portion  of  my  subject 
by  this  simple  request — reverence  the  Christian  Sabbath — be 
thankful  for  such  a  respite,  amid  the  din  and  turmoil  of  the 
world — hail  it  as  an  augury  of  the  millennial  rest,  the  "  Sabba- 
tismos"  that  remains  for  the  people  of  God.  I  believe  that  when 
the  apostle  says,  "  There  remaineth  therefore  a  rest,"  or  literally 
translated,  "  a  Sabbath-keeping  for  the  people  of  God,"  he  refers 
to  the  seventh  millenary  of  the  world.  Clinton,  the  ablest  chro- 
nologist  of  modem  times,  has  proved,  I  think  to  demonstration, 
that  the  seventh  thousand  year  of  the  world  begins  in  A.  I).  1862 ; 
and  no  less  remarkable  it  is,  that  all  the  great  prophetic  epochs 

4» 


42  THE   SEVEN  CHURCHES  OF  ASIA. 

terminate  about  that  era,  so  that  the  sixth  thousand  year  of  the 
world  closes,  and  the  seventh  thousand,  which  the  church  looks 
forward  to  as  her  rest — her  Sabbath,  begins,  in  the  course  of 
some  fifteen  or  sixteen  years.  This  Sabbath  that  we  now  enjoy, 
is  an  augury  and  anticipation  of  thatj  it  is  the  hour  of  sun- 
shine, in  which  we  are  to  gather  heavenly  manna  j  it  is  the  day 
when  we  feel  what  we  otherwise  know  that  we  are — freemen, 
whom  Christ  makes  free  j  when  we  can  shut  our  minds  to  the  din, 
and  rise  above  the  toils  of  the  world.  Be  assured  that  the  best 
way  to  make  the  Sabbath  respected  by  our  statesmen  and  legis- 
lators, is  to  make  it  seen  that  it  is  loved,  and  cherished,  and  re- 
verenced, by  ourselves.  If  all  Christians  would  only  reverence 
the  Sabbath,  and  show,  in  all  respects  and  under  all  circumstances, 
their  thankfulness  for  it,  we  may  depend  upon  it  we  should  not 
need — however  valuable  they  might  be  in  their  place — acts  of 
parliament,  or  the  countenance  of  Caesar,  to  enforce  it.  It  rests 
with  the  Christian  church,  whether  the  Sabbath  shall  be  ex- 
punged from  the  days  of  England,  or  revered  for  years  to  come, 
as  it  has  been  for  years  past,  as  the  pearl  of  days,  and  valued  as 
the  princess  of  the  week. 

Do  I  address  any  in  affiction  ?  It  was  in  tribulation,  we  are 
told,  that  John  beheld  the  visions  of  glory  and  of  beauty  that  are 
recorded  in  this  book.  It  is  through  tears  of  sorrow  that  the  eye 
has  often  seen  most  brightly  the  Lord  of  glory ;  and  when  the 
great  High-Priest  of  the  church  walks  on  his  ceaseless  watch 
amid  the  candlesticks,  where,  think  you,  does  he  hear  the  tones 
of  the  deepest  adoration  ?  where  does  he  see  the  radiance  of  the 
greatest  sanctity  ?  It  is  not  among  the  rich,  that  sip  the  full  cup, 
or  among  the  sensual,  that  eat  and  drink,  and  are  merry ;  it  is 
where  some  poor  man  sleeps,  the  hard  ground  for  his  pillow,  the 
blue  firmament  for  his  curtain ;  or  where  some  sick  one  lies  upon 
the  bed  of  languishing,  or  some  weeping  one  sheds  the  tear  upon 
the  green  turf  that  covers  the  remains  of  the  loved  and  the  near 
one.  Through  much  tribulation  we  must  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  God.  It  is  as  brethren  and  companions  in  tribulation,  that 
we  shall  see  the  brightest  visions  of  God,  and  of  his  Christ. 

Let  me  ask  you,  in  the  next  place,  to  seek  the  Spirit  of  God, 
to  lead  you  into  all  truth.     It  was  "  in  the  Spirit"  that  John  had 


JOHN  IN  PATMOS.  43 

the  Apocalypse  revealed  to  him  :  it  is  "  by  the  Spirit"  alone,  that 
we  can  understand  it.  The  knowledge  of  the  original  language 
may  be  valuable — acquaintance  with  philological  criticism  may 
be  useful — but  a  higher  acquirement  still  is  to  have  the  Spirit  of 
God ;  and  if  we  ask  the  help  and  guidance  of  that  Spirit,  God 
has  promised  to  bestow  it.  Let  us,  then,  pray  to  God  to  give  us 
that  Holy  Spirit,  by  which  we  may  be  enabled  to  love  his  Word, 
to  venerate  his  Sabbath,  to  live  to  his  praise ;  and  that  when  time 
shall  be  no  more,  we  may  be  heirs  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and 
shine  like  stars  in  the  finnament,  for  ever  and  ever. 


LECTURE  ni. 

THE  EVERLASTING  HIGH-PRIEST. 

"  And  I  turned  to  see  the  voice  that  spake  with  me.  And  being  tnrned,  I 
saw  seven  golden  candlesticks ;  and  in  the  midst  of  the  seven  candlesticks  one 
like  onto  the  Son  of  man,  clothed  with  a  garment  down  to  the  foot,  and  girt 
about  the  paps  with  a  golden  girdle.  His  head  and  his  hairs  were  white  like 
wool,  as  white  as  snow ;  and  his  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire ;  and  his  feet  like 
unto  fine  brass,  as  if  they  burned  in  a  furnace ;  and  his  voice  as  the  sound  of 
many  waters.  And  he  had  in  his  right  hand  seven  stars ;  and  out  of  his  mouth 
went  a  sharp  two-edged  sword  :  and  his  countenance  was  as  the  sun  shineth  in 
in  his  strength.  And  when  I  saw  him,  I  fell  at  his  feet  as  dead.  And  he  laid 
his  right  band  upon  me,  saying  unto  me.  Fear  not ;  I  am  the  first  and  the  last : 
I  am  he  that  liveth,  and  was  dead ;  and,  behold,  I  am  alive  for  evermore, 
Amen ;  and  have  the  keys  of  hell  and  of  death." — Rev.  i.  12-18. 

There  cannot  be  a  doubt,  that  he  who  is  thus  described,  in 
language  so  solemn,  and  yet  so  picturesque,  is  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Nor  can  there  be  a  doubt  that  the  Being  here  delineated 
is  also  God ;  for  the  very  acts  and  features  peculiar  to  Deity  are 
predicated  and  asserted  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Does  Christ  "  walk 
in  the  midst  of  the  seven  golden  candlesticks  ?"  God  said, 
(Lev.  xxvi.  12,)  "  I  will  walk  among  you."  So  our  Lord  pro- 
mised in  another  place,  "Where  two  or  three  are  met  together  in 
my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."  Again,  he  says, 
"  I  am  he  that  liveth,  and  was  dead  j  and,  behold,  I  am  alive  (or 
the  living  one)  for  evermore" — language  clearly  descriptive  of 
Jehovah. 

In  order  to  show  the  unity  that  subasts  in  these  portraits  of 
Deity,  between  the  revelations  of  the  New  Testament  and  the  Re- 
velations of  the  Old,  we  may  read  a  somewhat  similar  description 
of  Deity,  presented  to  us  in  the  Prophet  Daniel,  chap.  vii.  9 : 
"  And  I  beheld  till  the  thrones  were  cast  down,  and  the  Ancient 
of  days  did  sit,  whose  garment  was  white  as  snow,  and  the  hair 
of  his  head  like  the  pure  wool :  his  throne  was  like  the  fiery 
44 


THE   EVERLASTING   HIGH-PRIEST.  45 

flame,  and  his  wheels  as  burning  fire.  A  fiery  stream  issued  and 
came  forth  from  before  him  ;  thousand  thousands  ministered  unto 
him,  and  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  stood  before  him; 
the  judgment  was  set,  and  the  books  were  opened."  And  so  in 
chap.  X,  5  :  "I  lifted  up  mine  eyes,  and  looked,  and  behold  a 
certain  man  clothed  in  linen,  whose  loins  were  girded  with  fine 
gold  of  Uphaz" — the  "  golden  girdle  about  his  breast" — "  hia 
body  also  was  like  the  beryl,  and  his  face  as  the  appearance  of 
lightning,  and  his  eyes  as  lamps  of  fire,  and  his  arms  and  his 
feet  like  in  colour  to  polished  brass,  and  the  voice  of  his  words 
like  the  voice  of  a  multitude."  There  is  no  doubt  that  this  was 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  who  appeared  to  Daniel,  as  in  all  the  other 
anthropomorphic  epiphanies  of  the  Old  Testament,  as  well  as  to 
John,  and  that  both  these  prophecies  relate  to  the  glory  of  the 
same  Being,  and  the  progress  of  the  same  gospel. 

The  first  epithet  by  which  Christ  is  here  distinguished,  is  "  the 
Son  of  Man."  This  name  is  rarely  given  by  the  evangelists  to 
the  Saviour ;  but  is  almost  always  assumed  by  the  Saviour  him- 
self, as  best  descriptive  of  his  lowly  condition.  The  phrase  "  Son 
of  Man,"  is  used  according  to  the  Hebrew  idiom,  to  denote  a  state 
of  special  infirmity,  humiliation,  and  suffering.  Thus,  in  the 
Psalms  it  is  said,  "  Put  not  your  trust  in  princes,"  i.  e.  the 
highest  of  the  land ;  *'  nor  in"  what  is  contrasted  with  them,  "  the 
son  of  man,"  i.  e.  the  meanest  or  the  poorest  of  the  land.  We 
have  thus,  in  this  picture  of  Jesus  in  the  midst  of  his  celestial 
grandeur  as  the  Son  of  Man,  new  evidence  that  his  humilitation 
is  not  lost  in  his  glory — that  the  cross  is  still  resplendent  amid 
the  vision  of  the  throne — that  the  name  that  was  pronounced  in 
Bethlehem,  in  Gethsemane,  and  on  Calvary,  is  audible  in  the 
BOngs  of  the  blest ;  and  thus  the  "  Lamb  as  if  he  had  been  slain," 
is  the  sublimest,  as  it  is  the  central  feature  of  that  glory  which 
is  yet  to  be  revealed. 

The  next  description  of  him  is,  "  He  was  clothed  with  a  gar- 
ment down  to  the  feet."  This  garment  is  unquestionably,  from 
the  minute  description  of  it  given  in  the  book  of  Exodus,  the 
robe  that  was  worn  by  the  high-priest,  who  is  said  to  have  been 
robed  with  it  for  sacredness,  and  for  beauty,  and  for  glory ;  and 
thus  the  sacredness  of  the  priest  and  the  dignity  of  the  king  are 


46  THE   SEVEN  CHURCHES  OF  ASIA. 

superadded  to  the  humanity  of  the  Son  of  Man, — whatever  can 
indicate  humanity  and  deity  is  revealed,  in  short,  in  order  to 
constitute  the  full  portrait  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  King 
of  glory. 

It  is  added,  there  was  a  girdle  about  his  loins.  This  is  best 
explained  by  referring  to  the  use  of  the  word  in  other  parts  of 
the  Scriptures;  thus,  Job  xxi.  18  :  "He  girdeth  his  loins  with  a 
girdle."  Again,  God  is  said  to  "  loose  the  girdle  of  kings ;"  i.  e. 
to  reduce  them- to  weakness;  and  when  an  ancient  Jew,  or  Greek, 
or  a  Roman,  who  wore  the  long  robe,  called  the  toga,  was  about 
to  engage  in  some  manual  labour,  "  he  girded  up  his  loins,"  to 
use  the  Scripture  language,  or  fastened  the  flowing  skirts  of  his 
raiment  by  a  girdle  round  his  waist.  We  thus  infer  from  the 
picture  under  which  Jesus  is  represented,  that  he  is  not  only 
clothed  with  sacredness,  and  radiant  with  glory,  but  girded  with 
strength  and  might,  omnipotent  to  save. 

We  read  next,  that  "  his  head  and  his  hairs  were  white  like 
wool,  as  white  as  snow."  The  white  or  hoary  head  is  always 
regarded  in  Scripture  as  synonymous  with  authority,  reverence, 
and  even  beauty.  Thus,  Lev.  xix.  32  :  "  Thou  shalt  rise  up  be- 
fore the  hoary  head,  and  honour  the  face  of  the  old  man."  Thus, 
Prov.  xvi.  13  :  "The  hoary  head  is  a  crown  of  glory;"  and  so 
venerable  is  age  in  the  mind  of  Deity,  that  God  himself  is  re- 
presented to  us  as  the  Ancient  of  days;  and  in  Scripture,  the 
cutting  ofi"  of  the  hair  signified  the  loss  of  honour,  of  authority, 
dominion,  and  power ;  and  hence,  then,  we  gather  from  this 
hieroglyphic  portrait  of  Jesus,  as  having  "hair  like  wool,  and 
white  as  the  snow,"  that  grandeur,  authority,  honour,  and  power, 
in  their  highest  excellency,  exclusively  belong  to  him.  He  is 
then  described  as  having  "  eyes  like  flame."  Fire  is  the  most 
penetrating  thing  we  know ;  it  pierces  and  reduces  all  things : 
and  eyes  like  flames  of  fire  must  imply  the  omniscience  of  Christ. 
His  eye  can  reach  all  distances — rise  to  all  heights — descend  to 
all  depths — and  enter  all  concealment.  There  is  not  a  thought 
in  our  hearts,  but  lo  !  he  knows  it  altogether.  It  is  his  own 
assumed  and  just  prerogative,  "  I  am  he  that  searcheth  the  hearts, 
and  trieth  the  reins  of  the  children  of  men."  And  what  a  solemn 
truth  is  this, — that  there  is  not  a  thought  that  flits  with  light- 


THE   EVERLASTING   HIGH-PRIEST.  47 

ning  speed  across  a  single  mind  in  this  assembly,  that  is  not  as 
clearly  seen  by  God,  and  registered  above,  as  I  am  at  this  mo- 
ment seen  and  heard  by  you.  "  Search  my  heart,  O  God,  and 
try  my  throughts,  and  see  if  there  be  any  wicked  way  in  me,  and 
lead  me  in  the  way  everlasting.'^ 

Again,  it  is  stated  that  his  feet  were  as  brass.  This  has  also 
its  meaning.  Brass  is  used  in  Scripture  to  denote  strength,  en- 
durance. Thus  we  read,  "  gates  of  brass,"  i.  e.  gates  of  great 
strength,  and  not  easily  to  be  broken  open.  Hence  his  feet  being 
like  brass  implies  that  his  enemies  should  be  trodden  down — that 
no  obstacles  should  arrest  him — that  no  difficulties  should  make 
him  weary — that  he  is  able  to  execute  in  his  power  the  purposes 
of  mercy  and  of  love  which  he  has  formed  toward  his  own.  It 
is  said  that  his  feet,  which  were  like  brass,  glowed  like  molten 
brass,  "  as  if  they  burned  in  a  furnace."  This  may  denote  the 
tribulations  through  which  he  would  have  to  pass — the  trials 
which  he  would  have  to  endure — partly  perhaps  in  his  body,  the 
church — the  scenes  of  opposition  through  which  he  would  have 
to  pass,  before  his  ransomed  church  would  be  lifted  from  her  ruin, 
and  reinstated  in  that  glory,  and  dignity,  and  greatness  which  he 
had  prepared  for  her  before  the  foundation  of  the  world. 

It  is  next  said,  "  His  voice  was  as  the  sound  of  many  waters," 
or,  as  the  parallel  passage  in  Daniel  describes  it,  "  His  voice 
was  as  the  voice  of  a  great  multitude."  The  apostle  Paul  thus 
describes  the  voice  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  his  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  when  he  says,  "Whose  voice  then  shook  the  earth; 
but  now  he  hath  promised,  saying.  Yet  once  more  I  shake  not 
the  earth  only,  but  also  heaven."  And  this  voice,  which  is  like 
the  sound  of  a  mighty  multitude,  or  like  the  roar  of  the  restless 
waves,  is  that  very  voice  which  Christ  himself  describes  when  he 
says,  "  The  hour  is  coming  and  now  is,  in  the  which  all  that  are 
in  the  graves  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  shall 
come  forth ;  they  that  have  done  evil,  to  the  resurrection  of  dam- 
nation ;  and  they  that  have  done  good,  to  the  resurrection  of  life." 
This  voice  gathers  volume  and  impetus  every  day;  it  is  reflected 
in  increasing  echoes  from  every  land ;  it  mingles  with  the  din  of 
great  cities,  and  asserts  for  itself  supremacy  and  awe.  It  crosses 
unspent  the  sands  of  the  desert;  it  sounds  amid  the  noise  of  the 


48  THE   SEVEN  CHURCHES   OF  ASIA. 

sea-waves  and  the  tumults  of  the  people ;  and  one  day  this  voice, 
which  was  so  "  still  and  small"  in  Bethlehem,  shall  be  heard 
through  the  universe,  and  the  universe  shall  respond,  "like  the 
voice  of  a  mighty  multitude,"  saying,  "  Salvation  and  honour 
and  glory  and  blessing  unto  God:  Hallelujah,  the  Lord  God 
Omnipotent  reigneth." 

"  Out  of  his  mouth  went  a  sharp  two-edged  sword."  We  are 
at  no  loss  about  determining  the  meaning  of  this  figure,  for  it  is 
said  that  the  word  of  God  is  "  quick  and  powerful,  and  sharper 
than  any  two-edged  sword."  And  again,  "  the  word  of  God  is 
the  sword  of  the  Spirit ;"  and  this  teaches  us  that  the  secret  of 
his  victories  shall  not  be  "  the  sword  of  Caesar,  but  the  sword  of 
the  Spirit."  Christ's  kingdom  shall  be  established  over  all  the 
earth,  not  by  the  influence  of  diplomacy,  or  by  the  conquests  of 
arms,  but  by  the  force  of  truth,  the  persuasiveness  of  love,  the 
power  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

"  His  face  did  shine  as  the  sun  in  his  strength."  John  saw 
the  Transfiguration  on  Mount  Tabor,  and  the  very  words  which 
are  here  used  to  describe  Christ  in  his  apocalyptic  glory,  are 
almost  the  identical  words  employed  by  him  to  describe  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration.  So  Paul  describes 
him  when  he  saw  him  on  his  way  to  Damascus,  as  surrounded 
with  a  light  above  the  brightness  of  the  sun ;  and  he  is  described 
here  not  as  the  sun  rising  in  the  morning  and  struggling  with 
mists,  nor  as  the  sun  enveloped  in  clouds  and  almost  eclipsed, 
but  as  the  Sun  of  righteousness,  shining  in  his  meridian  splen- 
dour, or  "  in  his  strength." 

Such  is  the  vision  that  John  saw.  When  he  beheld  it,  it  is 
said,  "  he  fell  at  his  feet  as  dead."  There  is  an  intensity  in  the 
celestial  glory  which  organs  of  flesh  and  blood  cannot  now  bear. 
The  eye  of  the  mole  cannot  endure  the  light  of  the  sun ;  and  so 
the  eye  of  flesh  and  blood  cannot  at  present  endure  the  vision  of 
the  glory  of  the  Lord.  It  was  the  same  vision  that  Isaiah  saw 
and  describes  in  chap.  vi.  of  his  Prophecy,  where  we  read,  that 
he  beheld  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  and  when  he  beheld  it  he  fell 
at  his  feet,  saying,  "  Wo  is  me !  for  I  am  a  man  of  unclean 
lips  ;  and  mine  eyes  have  seen  the  Lord  of  hosts."  "  This  said 
Isaiah,"  says  the  evangelist,  "  when  he  saw  his  glory,  and  spake 


THE  EVERLASTING   IIIGH-PRIEST.  4^ 

of  him."  Are  we  prepared  to  behold  bim  ?  "Every  eye,"  we 
are  told,  "  shall  see  him."  There  is  not  an  eye  that  looks  on  me 
this  night  that  shall  not  look  upon  the  Lord  of  glory ;  and  there 
is  not  an  eye  to  whom  that  sight  shall  not  be  the  twilight  that 
ends  in  everlasting  day,  or  the  twilight  that  descends  into  ever- 
lasting night.  It  depends  upon  what  you  are  now  what  shall  bo 
the  impression  that  the  first  look  of  your  Lord  shall  leave 
upon  you. 

When  John  fell  at  his  feet  as  dead,  it  is  said  that  he  that 
appeared  to  him  laid  his  right  hand  upon  him.  The  right  hand 
is  frequently  referred  to  in  Scripture.  Thus  the  Psalmist  speaks 
of  it  in  Psalm  Ixiii.  8  :  "  Thy  right  hand  upheld  me."  The 
right  hand  was  also  used  in  blessing  any  person.  Thus  Jacob 
laid  his  right  hand  on  the  head  of  Ephraim,  and  blessed  him. 
The  right  hand  was  also  used  in  designating  any  person  to  an 
office  J  and  thus  John,  by  Christ's  right  hand  being  laid  upon 
him,  was  designated  to  the  office  of  a  prophet,  and  consecrated 
to  be  the  preacher  of  what  he  saw  to  all  generations  of  the 
church.  And  when  he  laid  his  right  hand  upon  him,  it  is  said 
he  added,  "  Fear  not."  This  is  equivalent  to  what  he  said  to  his 
disciples  when  he  walked  upon  the  sea — "  Be  not  afraid :  it  is  I." 
Fear  not,  John,  it  is  I,  on  whose  bosom  you  have  frequently 
leaned ;  "  it  is  I,"  John,  whom  you  beheld  hanging  on  the  ac- 
cursed tree — who  gave  Mary  in  charge  to  thee,  and  bade  thee 
behold  a  mother — whose  last  accents  rang  upon  your  ear  like  a 
death-knell,  and  yet  to  the  ears  of  angels  as  the  first  notes  of  the 
pajan  of  future  victory — "  It  is  finished."  "  It  is  I,"  with  whom 
you  walked  and  conversed  in  Palestine  :  "  be  not  afraid :"  the 
glory  with  which  I  am  surrounded  now  has  not  dimmed  my  per- 
ceptions, nor  deadened  my  sympathies,  nor  lessened  my  love ;  for 
thou  art  still  the  disciple  "  whom  I  love."  "  Be  not  afraid :  it 
is  I." 

He  adds  the  reasons  especially  why  he  should  not  be  afraid. 
He  says,  "  I  am  the  first  and  the  last  j"  all  events  are  known  to 
me ;  all  that  shall  occur,  from  the  last  cry  upon  the  cross  to  the 
'  first  accents  from  the  throne,  "  I  make  all  things  new,"  is  before 
me — under  my  cognizance — subject  to  my  power.  Nothing  can 
be  before  me,  and  therefore  there  is  nothing  that  I  do  not  know  j 


50  THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES   OF   ASIA. 

nothing  can  be  behind  me,  and  therefore  there  is  nothing  which 
I  am  unable  to  control.  I  am  the  first  of  all  wisdom,  and  the 
last :  in  me  is  all  knowledge,  all  fulness,  all  power ;  and  there- 
fore "  be  not  afraid."  I  will  make  the  least  things  to  be  great, 
the  weakest  things  to  be  strong,  and  the  poorest  things  to  be  rich. 
"  Fear  not,"  John ;  though  I  was  crucified  in  weakness,  I  have 
been  raised  in  power,  and  "  all  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven 
and  in  earth."  "  I  am  he  that  liveth  and  was  dead ;"  or,  as  it 
ought  to  be  rendered,  in  order  to  distinguish  it  from  the  words 
that  follow  immediately  after,  "  am  alive  for  evermore" — "  I  am 
the  living  one."  This  is  the  assumption  of  the  attribute  of  Je- 
hovah. The  meaning  of  the  word  Jehovah  is,  "I  am  that  I 
am;"  i.e.  the  self-existent  God.  And  when  Jesus  says  here,  "  I 
am  he  that  liveth,"  or,  as  it  should  be  literally  translated,  "  I  am 
the  living  one,"  it  is  an  assumption  of  deity.  Either  John  was 
deceived,  and  Christ  deceived  him,  or  Christ  is  very  God,  the 
Lord  of  glory. 

There  is  no  medium,  I  have  always  felt,  between  treating  our 
Lord  as  an  impostor  and  worshipping  him  as  God.  There  is  no- 
thing intermediate.  Socinianism  is  gross  and  flagrant  incon- 
sistency. If  Christ  were  not  God,  he  deceived  the  apostles,  or 
the  apostles  have  deceived  us.  But  we  know  that  he  is  God  :  we 
cannot  let  go  this  truth.  He  is  man  to  sympathize  with  your 
tenderest,  your  deepest  sorrows — God  to  sustain  you  when  all  their 
billows  flow  over  you.  If  Christ  were  not  God,  he  never  could 
have  been  my  Saviour.  Fallen  as  I  am,  marred,  and  weakened, 
and  shorn  of  its  pristine  magnificence  as  my  soul  is;  yet,  even  in 
its  ruins,  I  believe  that  soul  to  be  the  greatest  thing  in  the  uni- 
verse, except  God  himself;  and  I  would  not  trust  my  soul  to  the 
care  of  an  angel,  or  to  the  keeping  of  an  archangel :  I  will  take 
charge  of  it  myself,  if  I  cannot  find  a  God  to  take  chai*ge  of  it 
for  me.  But  I  know  that  Christ  is  God  over  all,  blessed  for 
evermore  :  I  know  in  whom  I  have  believed,  and  that  he  is  able 
— able  as  he  is  willing — to  keep  that  soul  which  I  have  com- 
mitted unto  him  against  that  day.  He  says,  "  I  am  the  living 
one."  Paul  also  said,  "  I  live ;"  but  lest  that  word  should  seem 
to  trench  on  the  prerogatives  of  deity,  he  corrected  himself,  and 
added,  "  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me."     But  when  Jesus 


THE  EVERLASTING  HIGH-PRIEST.  51 

said,  "I  live,"  it  needed  no  correction,  because  it  asserts  the 
attribute  that  rightfully  belongs  to  him.  He  describes  himself 
in  his  word  as  the  Fountain  of  all  life.  So  the  beloved  John, 
the  Seer  of  Patmos,  in  the  epistles  that  he  wrote  to  the  Chris- 
tians, says,  "  That  which  was  from  the  beginning,  which  we  have 
seen  and  our  hands  have  handled  of  the  word  of  life."  The 
most  wonderful  thing  on  earth  is  life.  That  worm  that  creeps 
along  the  wayside  is  a  more  wonderful  arid  impressive  evidence 
of  power,  than  the  steam-ship  that  ploughs  the  main,  or  the  rail- 
way train  at  its  mightiest  speed,  or  the  most  magnificent  combi- 
nation of  machinery  that  the  genius  of  man  has  yet  devised. 
Life  is  the  most  wonderful  thing,  and  it  is  just  that  thing  which 
man  has  the  least  control  over — which  he  cannot  continue  as  long 
as  he  pleases ;  it  is  that  power,  the  reins,  and  length  and  limits 
of  which  God  holds  in  his  own  hand.  Man  has  tried  to  mimic 
it :  God  only  can  create  it.  Some  foolish  physiologists  lately  pre- 
tended that  they  had  discovered  a  process  by  which  they  could 
make  life,  and  dreamed  that  by  galvanism  they  could  create  liv- 
ing creatures.  They  imagined  a  vain  thing.  God  alone  is  the 
Fountain  of  life ;  and  he  not  only  makes  it,  but  he  alone  can 
sustain  it.  And  who  knows  what  wonders  of  life  there  are 
beneath,  as  well  as  what  mysteries  of  life  there  are  above  ?  The 
microscope  has  shown  us  myriads  of  living  creatures  the  eye  can- 
not see :  there  are  probably  infinite  gradations  below,  as  there  are 
infinite  gradations  above.  Man  is  the  connecting  link  between 
the  highest  animal  and  the  lowest  angel.  We  have  the  angelic 
life  in  our  souls,  we  have  the  animal  life  in  our  bodies,  and  both 
from  Christ.  The  life  that  is  iu  a  child  of  grace,  the  life  that  is 
in  the  insect  that  floats  in  the  sunbeam,  or  in  the  eagle  that 
spreads  his  pinions  on  the  wind — the  life  that  is  in  an  angel,  or 
that  which  is  in  a  babe — the  life  of  the  soul — the  life  which  is 
eternal, — has  its  origin,  its  maintenance,  its  limits  in  Christ. 

We  cannot  present  any  satisfactory  solution  of  the  phenomena 
of  life ;  and  when  our  solution  seems  satisfactory,  it  is  not  its 
truth,  but  our  ignorance,  that  makes  it  appear  so.  When  the 
physiologist  describes  the  working  of  the  mechanism  of  the 
human  frame,  he  says,  "  This  muscle  moves  because  it  is  pulled 
by  that,  and  that  other  muscle  moves  because  it  is  awakened  by 


52  THE   SEVEN    CHURCHES   OF  ASIA. 

that  nerve."  But  if  you  ask  him  why  all  this  continues,  he  will 
tell  you,  "  Because  the  heart  beats."  But  if  you  ask  why  the 
heart  beats,  the  physiologist  is  dumb ;  he  cannot  go  any  farther. 
The  only  answer  is  the  Christian  one — what  a  peasant  believes, 
and  a  philosopher  cannot  comprehend — God  moves  the  heart. 
And  there  is  not  a  heart  beating  in  this  assembly  which  the 
touch  of  God  does  not  every  second  compress  and  dilate.  And 
if  this  be  so,  how  frightful  is  the  position  of  that  man  who  lives 
in  rebellion  against  the  will  and  commands  of  him  who  has  only 
to  withhold  his  finger,  and  the  heart  that  is  now  full  of  life  shall 
become  cold  and  silent  in  the  grave  1  Our  existence  is  a  constant 
reciprocation  of  life  and  death.  The  beat  of  the  heart  is  life,  the 
pause  between  is  death.  When  the  heart  pauses,  it  silently  puts 
up  this  question  to  the  great  Author  of  life  :  "  Shall  I  go  on  V 
and  God  says,  "  Go  on."  We  get  the  lease  renewed,  not  every 
year,  not  every  month,  not  every  week,  not  every  day,  but  every 
second  :  we  have  no  freehold,  nor  have  we  a  leasehold  of  life  j 
we  have  the  sovereign  renewal  of  life  each  second.  Were  God  to 
say  to  thy  heart,  "  Be  still,"  thy  spirit  would  instantly  escape 
from  the  ruin.  Would  it  be  where  the  soul  of  Lazarus  is,  in 
Abraham's  bosom,  or  where  the  soul  of  the  rich  man  pines,  lifting 
up  itself  in  hell,  being  in  torments  ? 

He  adds,  I  am  he  also  "  that  was  dead."  This  is  a  paradox. 
I  am  the  living  one,  and  yet  I  am  he  that  was  dead.  There  is  no 
real  contradiction ;  the  life  died,  the  Lord  of  glory  was  crucified  : 
God  in  our  nature  sufiered.  Why  ?  Because  he  took  our  place, 
and  this  was  the  penalty  that  we  had  incurred.  He  died  because 
our  sins  were  laid  upon  him ;  he  died  with  nothing  in  him 
worthy  of  death,  that  we  might  live  who  have  nothing  in  us 
worthy  of  life.  Our  sins  made  him  die,  his  righteousness  alone 
can  make  us  live.  He  died,  not  because  he  had  done  what  was 
evil,  but  because  our  sins  were  laid  upon  him ;  and  we  shall  be 
admitted  into  heaven  and  live  forever,  not  because  we  have  done 
what  is  good,  but  because  his  righteousness  was  laid  upon  us. 
You  cannot  have  too  strong  a  grasp  of  this  truth — that  you  are 
saved  from  first  to  last  by  nothing  in  you,  nothing  by  you,  no- 
thing of  you ;  but  by  the  finished  righteousness  of  the  Lord  of 
glory,  the  living  one  that  died,  the  just  for  the  unjust. 


0 

THE   EVERLASTING  HIGH-PRIEST.  5» 

And  "  I  am  alive,"  he  adds,  "  for  evermore."  This  is  distinct 
from  the  first  "  live ;"  he  says,  "  I  am  the  living  one,"  i.  e. 
Deity.  "  I  died ;"  here  is  evidence  of  his  humanity  :  "  I  am 
alive  for  evermore ;"  here  is  his  resurrection-life,  and  the  evidence 
that  deity  in  humanity  triumphed,  and  that  the  grave  having  re- 
ceived what  it  thought  a  victim,  felt  it  had  embraced  its  con- 
queror. He  entered  our  grave  apparently  its  victim ;  he  rose 
really  its  vanquisher.  "  He  is  alive  for  evermore ;"  "  the  first- 
fruits  of  them  that  sleep ;"  for  if  we  believe  that  Jesus  died,  as 
he  is  here  stated  to  have  done,  and  rose  again,  even  so  them  that 
sleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with  him ;  and  if  we  were  recon- 
ciled to  God  by  the  death  of  Christ,  much  more,  being  recon- 
ciled, we  shall  be  saved  by  his  life.  And  thus  in  these  few 
words  we  have  an  epitome  of  the  everlasting  gospel.  The  living 
one,  for  none  else  has  life,  that  is,  God  in  our  nature  died,  be- 
cause "  without  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission  of  sins ;" 
God  in  our  nature  is,  too,  the  risen  and  the  living  one,  for  "  he 
ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  us."  And  thus  in  these 
words  we  have  an  epitome  of  the  gospel. 

He  adds,  "I  have  the  keys  of  hell  and  of  death."  The 
word  here  rendered  "  hell"  is  not  Gehenna ;  in  this  is  confusion 
in  our  translation.  There  is  the  word  Hades,  which  means 
literally  the  invisible  world,  and  there  is  the  word  Gehenna, 
which  means  the  place  of  the  damned.  And  so  it  is  stated  after- 
ward in  this  book  :  "  death  and  hell  (Odvazoq  xai  a(55j?)  were 
cast  into  Gehenna."  "What?"  you  say,  "is  there  a  middle 
state  V  I  answer.  No :  there  is  no  purgatoiy ;  but  when  the 
Spirit  of  God  speaks  of  the  soul  as  severed  from  the  body, 
without  specifying  whether  that  soul  is  in  happiness  or  wo,  he 
states  "  it  is  in  Hades."  It  is  not  a  third  place,  but  a  third  con- 
dition ;  it  is  not  the  soul  united  to  the  body,  that  is  one  con- 
dition ;  it  is  not  the  soul  united  to  its  resurrection  body,  that  will 
be  its  condition  on  the  resurrection  day;  but  it  is  the  soul  in  a 
state  of  happines  or  a  state  of  wo,  according  to  the  character  in 
which  it  died,  neither  in  its  old  nor  in  its  new  body,  without  its 
being  expressed  whether  it  is  in  the  one  or  in  the  other.  When 
our  Lord  therefore  says,  "I  have  the  keys  of  hell  and  of  death," 
it  is  as  if  he  said,  "  I  have  the  key  that  unlocks  the  grave,  and 

5» 


54  THE   SEVEN  CHURCHES  OF  ASIA. 

out  of  which  the  buried  dust  shall  rise  instinct  with  a  life  that 
shall  never  die;  and  I  have  the  key  that  unlocks  the  world  of 
spirits,  and  shall  bring  the  soul  either  from  its  fiery  bed  in  hell, 
or  from  its  beatific  throne  in  heaven,  to  be  united  to  a  risen  body, 
to  be  rewarded  in  eternity  according  to  the  deeds  done  in  the  body. 

To  have  the  key  means,  to  have  authority,  power,  jurisdiction; 
and  I  may  state  here,  that  if  Peter  received  the  keys  that  are 
here  specified  as  a  special  grant  from  the  Lord,  it  is  quite  plain 
that  Peter  surrendered  them  again ;  or,  at  all  events,  that  the 
keys  which  Peter  received  were  different  from  the  keys  which  are 
assigned  to  him  by  his  pretended  successors,  and  which  are  here 
described.  It  is  quite  plain  that  the  popes,  Peter's  so-called  suc- 
cessors, try  to  use  not  Peter's  keys,  which  admitted  the  Gentiles 
into  the  kingdom  of  God,  but  they  assume  to  "wield  the  keys  of 
the  Lord  of  glory ;  for  they  pretend  that  they  can  open  the  gates 
of  the  world  of  spirits,  shut  the  gates  of  hell,  and  unfold  the 
gates  of  heaven,  when,  where,  and  to  whom  they  please.  Ac- 
cording to  their  own  showing,  therefore,  the  keys  they  pretend 
to  wear  are  not  the  keys  of  Peter,  but  the  keys  of  Christ  thus 
blasphemously  assumed  in  derogation  of  his  glory,  and  to  the 
destruction  of  the  souls  of  thousands. 

Now  having  seen  this  hieroglyphic  portrait  of  Jesus,  the  Lord 
of  glory,  representing  under  symbols  great  and  glorious  features, 
which  eye  hath  not  seen  and  cannot  now  see,  and  which  ear  hath 
not  heard  and  cannot  now  hear,  let  me  sum  up  the  whole  of  this 
portrait  by  stating  that  it  is  the  great  design  of  the  Lord  in  this 
vision  which  he  unfolded  to  John,  as  the  drapery  clearly  shows,  to 
exhibit  himself  as  the  High-Priest  of  his  Church.  The  Apocalypse 
begins  with  Christ  as  a  priest  and  ends  with  Christ  as  a  king.  It 
begins  with  Christ  as  a  priest,  making  atonement  for  the  sins  of 
his  people,  and  it  ends  with  Christ  as  a  king,  with  many  crowns 
upon  his  head.  We  shall  see  the  beauty  and  the  importance  of 
opening  this  book  with  the  picture  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as 
our  priest,  if  we  remember  that  among  the  ancient  Jews  their 
priest  was  the  grand  centre,  under  God,  of  their  hope  and  their 
happiness. 

The  rock  could  give  them  water,  the  skies  could  give  them 
manna,  the  pillar  of  fire  could  give  them  light,  the  cloud  could 


THE   EVERLASTING   HIGH-PRIEST.  55 

give  them  shade ;  but  their  High-Priest  alone  could  intimate  to 
them  the  forgiveness  of  sm.  In  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
which  was  addressed,  as  its  name  implies,  to  the  Jews,  how 
constantly  does  Paul  bring  this  truth  forward.  Thus,  chap.  iii. 
1,  "  the  Apostle  and  High-Priest  of  our  profession,  Christ  Jesus;" 
chap.  iv.  11,  "We  have  not  an  High-Priest  who  cannot  be  touched 
with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities."  Again,  chap.  vi.  20,  "  Jesus 
Christ, ....  an  High-Priest  for  ever,  after  the  order  of  Melchi- 
sedec;"  chap.  vii.  26,  "Such  an  High-Priest  became  us,  who 
needeth  not  daily,  as  those  high-priests,  to  offer  up  sacrifice,  first 
for  his  own  sins,  and  then  for  the  people's  :  for  this  he  did  once, 
when  he  oifered  up  himself."  This  book,  and  each  epistle  to  each 
of  the  seven  churches,  on  which  I  shall  address  you  by-and-by, 
begins  with  some  feature  of  Christ  as  the  High-Priest ;  every 
address  is  introduced  by  a  feature  taken  from  this  grand  apo- 
calypse with  which  the  book  opens,  showing  us  that  Christ  the 
High-Priest  was  the  glorious  manifestation  that  was  prominent 
before  the  seer ;  and  the  reason  is,  no  doubt,  because  the  priestly 
office  of  Christ  is  that  which  is  most  replete  with  comfort ;  his 
prophetic  office  is  full  of  light,  his  kingly  office  is  full  of  power, 
his  priestly  office  is  rich  in  consolation,  in  joy,  and  in  peace.  Let 
me  show  this  by  briefly  describing  what  were  the  three  great 
offices  of  the  high-priest.  The  first  was,  to  make  atonement  for 
his  people,  once  a  year  especially,  and  regularly  making  atone- 
ment twice  a  day  with  the  sacrifice  of  a  lamb.  The  second  was 
intercession,  when  the  high-priest  went  into  the  holy  place,  and 
made  intercession  for  the  people ;  and  the  third  was  blessing, 
when  the  high-priest  came  out  of  the  holy  place  and  blessed  the 
people.  To  all  these  Christ  the  High-Priest,  set  before  us  in  this 
picture,  completely  corresponds.  As  the  high-priest  divested 
himself  of  his  glorious  robes,  and  made  atonement  for  his  own 
sins,  and  then  for  the  sins  of  the  people  outside  the  holy  place, 
(and  without  shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission,)  so  Christ 
laid  aside  his  glory,  and  suffisred  without  the  camp,  and  made  a 
perfect  atonement  for  the  sins  of  all  that  believe ;  so  perfect,  that 
no  contribution  of  ours  can  add  to  its  efficacy,  nor  any  lapse  of 
yeai*s  waste  its  excellence.  Whole  worlds  may  rest  upon  it,  and 
more  worlds  still  might  be  saved  by  it;  a  sacrifice  so  complete  that 


56  THE   SEVEN  CHURCHES   OF  ASIA. 

there  is  forgiveness  through  it  for  the  greatest  sin,  and  acceptance 
in  it  for  the  guiltiest  criminal.  "The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ 
cleanseth  from  all  sin." 

Secondly,  the  high-priest  when  he  had  made  the  ofiering  went 
into  the  holy  place,  and  there,  bearing  on  his  bosom  the  names 
of  the  twelve  tribes,  he  interceded  for  the  people  of  Israel.  So 
Christ  has  done.  Where  is  Christ  now  ?  He  is  in  the  true 
holy  place — the  holy  place  not  made  with  hands — making  inter- 
cession for  the  people.  Notice,  too,  how  instructive  this  is  : 
when  the  high-priest  of  the  Jews  was  in  the  holy  place  he  entered 
alone ;  not  the  highest  Levite  or  the  most  honourable  priest  dared 
enter  with  him.  He  was  alone  amid  the  awful  glory  that  shone 
between  the  cherubim,  pleading  and  interceding  for  the  people. 
So  Christ  alone  intercedes  for  us.  We  would  not  thank  an  angel 
for  the  offers  of  his  intercession ;  we  need  not  the  Virgin  Mary's 
prayers,  nor  would  either  be  allowed.  We  have  one  who  ever 
liveth  and  maketh  intercession  for  us ;  we  know  that  it  is  an  in- 
sult to  an  angel  and  a  dishonour  to  that  angel's  God  to  presume 
that  any  one  but  the  high-priest  himself  might  enter  into  that 
holy  place  and  make  intercession  for  us.  While  the  high-priest 
was  thus  in  the  holy  place  interceding  for  the  people,  there  was 
no  propitiatory  sacrifice  going  on  without.  As  soon  as  the  sacri- 
fice was  finished,  the  high-priest  went  into  the  holy  place,  and 
while  he  was  interceding  no  sacrifice  could  be  offered.  If  Christ 
be  now  in  the  true  holy  place,  interceding  for  his  people,  there 
can  be  no  propitiation  going  forward  on  earth ;  the  idea,  there- 
fore, that  there  is  any  thing  propitiatory  in  the  Lord's  supper,  or 
that  it  is  "  a  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  living  and  the  dead,"  is 
inconsistent  with  the  office  of  Christ  and  blasphemous  in  the 
sight  of  God  ;  and  may  well  be  termed  "  a  blasphemous  fable  and 
dangerous  deceit."  This  intercession  of  the  high-priest  is  to  us 
just  as  important  as  his  atonement.  Christ's  atonement  opened 
the  doors  of  heaven — Christ's  intercession  keeps  them  open  : 
Christ's  sacrifice  gives  us  a  right  to  heaven — Christ's  intercession 
makes  us  fit  for  entrance  into  it.  The  cry  of  ever-watchful 
Satan  is,  "  Cut  is  down ;"  the  interceding  cry  of  the  everlasting 
Intercessor  is,  "  Spare  it  yet  another  year."  Our  safety  is  our 
dependence  on  this  intercession.     "  Simon,  Simon,  Satan   hath 


THE   EVERLASTING   HIGH-PRIEST.  57 

desired  to  have  thee,  that  he  maj  sift  thee  as  wheat" — there  is 
thy  danger  j  "  but  I  have  prayed  for  thee  that  thy  faith  fail  not" 
— there  thy  safety  is.  Wherever  you  have  a  minist(?i"  that  preaches 
the  everlasting  gospel,  you  have  that  minister  as  the  fruit  of  the 
intercession  of  Christ.  If  men  could  only  feel  this  more,  they 
would  think  less  of  other  things.  Mere  succession  from  the 
apostles,  historical  and  lineal,  is  an  absurdity  which  is  not,  and 
cannot  be,  and  has  been  broken  and  interrupted  a  hundred  times. 
The  name,  the  form,  the  ceremony  are  nothing.  It  matters  not 
whether  a  patron  presented  you,  or  the  people  elected  you  ;  that 
is  nothing.  It  matters  little  whether  you  read  your  sermons,  or 
preach  them  without  reading;  it  is  nothing.  If  you  preach  the 
gospel,  and  preach  it  in  its  fulness,  and  live  the  evidence  of  its 
power,  your  mission  is  from  above.  Such  a  minister  is  the  direct 
gift  of  our  blessed  High-Priest  interceding  for  us ;  for  "  when  he 
ascended  up  on  high,  ...  he  gave  some,  apostles;  and  some, 
teachers  and  pastors ;  and  some,  evangelists ;  for  the  edifying  of 
the  church  :  till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith  unto  a 
perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of 
Christ."  Our  perseverance  rests  upon  the  intercession  of  Christ. 
He  says,  "  Father,  I  will  that  those  whom  thou  hast  given  me  be 
with  me."  "  Who  is  he  that  condemneth  ?  It  is  Christ  that 
died,  yea  rather,  that  is  risen  again,  who  also  maketh  intercession 
for  us." 

The  last  inquiry  I  would  notice  is,  the  high-priest  having  first 
made  atonement  upon  the  brazen  altar  without  the  temple — and 
Christ  died  upon  Calvary,  without  the  camp — having,  secondly, 
gone  into  the  holy  place,  and  burned  incense  upon  the  golden 
altar,  and  made  intercession  for  the  children  of  Israel — and 
Christ  is  now  doing  that  same  thing — what  the  people  of  Israel 
were  doing  while  the  high-priest  was  thus  within  the  holy  place 
pleading  for  them.  They  waited  outside  with  trembling  or  hope- 
ful— certainly  anxious — hearts  till  he  should  come  out  of  the 
holy  place,  and  pronounce  upon  the  people  that  blessing  which  is 
recorded  in  the  Book  of  Numbers  :  "  The  Lord  bless  thee,  and 
keep  thee :  the  Lord  make  his  face  shine  upon  thee,  and  be 
gracious  unto  thee  :  the  Lord  lift  up  his  countenance  upon  thee, 
and  give  thee  peace."     When  the  high-priest  had  finished  his 


58  THE  SEVEN  CHURCHES  OF  ASIA. 

intercession  in  the  holy  place,  he  came  forth  before  the  congre- 
gation, who  waited  outside,  arrayed  in  the  garments  suited  to 
this  part  of  his  functions,  and  thus  blessed  the  people.  The 
Lord  of  glory  has  not  yet  come  forth  from  his  holy  place ;  earnests 
and  foretastes  of  the  blessing  are  granted  and  experienced  here, 
but  a  day  comes  with  the  speed,  and  it  will  arrive  with  all  the 
splendour,  of  the  lightning,  when  our  High-Priest  shall  come 
forth  from  his  holy  place,  and  standing  in  some  lofty  height  in 
the  creation  of  God,  shall  wave  his  consecrating  hand  over  Na- 
ture's length  and  breadth,  and  then  shall  be  fulfilled  that  psalm, 
"  Grod  be  merciful  unto  us,  and  bless  us;  and  cause  his  face  to 
shine  upon  us.  The  earth  shall  yield  her  increase  :  all  the  people 
shall  praise  him;  and  God,  even  our  own  God,  shall  bless  us." 
And  just  as  the  Israelites  waited  for  their  high-priest  to  come 
out  of  the  holy  place  and  pronounce  the  blessing  on  them,  so  all 
true  followers  of  the  Lamb  are  patiently  waiting  for  the  coming 
of  Christ.  They  have  seen  him  and  believed  in  him  as  their 
sacrifice ;  they  lean  on  him  and  they  look  to  him  as  their  inter- 
cessor before  the  throne;  and  they  hope  for  his  coming  forth 
when  the  time  of  intercession  shall  close,  to  pronounce  a  bene- 
diction, not  in  word,  but  in  power,  which  shall  descend  to  crea- 
tion's heart,  and  run  to  the  circumference  of  the  universe,  and 
the  whole  world  shall  bask  in  paradise  its  close,  as  it  shone  with 
paradise,  its  commencement. 

A  Christian's  retrospect  is  on  the  cross;  his  present  attitude  look- 
ing to  the  holy  place,  and  leaning  on  the  interceding  High-Priest; 
his  hope  is  the  anticipation  of  that  day  when  Christ  shall  come 
forth  and  pronounce  the  benediction  which  is  to  make  all  the  earth 
and  the  world,  and  all  them  that  dwell  in  it,  happy.  This  earth 
needs  but  his  blessing,  and  it  shall  then  bloom  like  the  rose ;  it 
waits  for  the  touch  of  his  consecrating  footsteps,  and  its  every 
desert  shall  smile.  I  believe  that  our  earth  is  not  to  be  cast  away; 
it  is  not  a  worn-out  thing.  The  devil  shall  not  have  it ;  the  last 
fire  shall  not  extinguish  it.  I  believe  it  is  Christ's  by  purchase, 
and  it  shall  be  restored  to  its  primeval  beauty,  and  shall  constitute 
that  holy  place  of  which  it  is  said,  *'I  saw  no  temple  therein,  for 
the  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb  are  the  temple  of  it." 


LECTURE  IV. 

THE   SEVEN   STARS  AND   SEVEN   CANDLESTICKS. 

"  The  mystery  of  the  seven  stars  which  thou  sawest  in  my  right  hand,  and 
the  seven  golden  candlesticks.  The  seven  stars  are  the  angels  of  the  seven 
churches  :  and  the  seven  candlesticks  whiel)  thou  sawest  are  the  seven 
churches." — Ret.  i.  20. 

It  must  be  obvious  that  tbe  form  of  expression  used  by  the 
Beer  in  this  passage  is  elliptical ;  it  is  common  to  the  prophetic 
writers,  and  when  properly  weighed,  can  lead  to  no  misconception 
of  their  meaning,  or  of  the  nature  of  the  statement  that  is  placed 
before  us.  The  word  "  are''  is  evidently  equivalent  to  "  signify :" 
"  the  seven  stars"  signify  or  represent  "seven  angels;"  *'  the  se- 
ven candlesticks  are,"  i.  e.  signify  or  represent  "  seven  churches." 
This  use  of  "is"  and  "are"  for  represents  and  represent  (or  what 
is  all  but  equivalent  to  it)  occurs  above  thirty-seven  times  in  ana- 
logous portions  of  Scripture:  such,  for  instance,  as  "seven  good 
kine  are  seven  years;"  and  again,  "these  dry  bones,"  in  the  valley 
of  vision,  "  are  the  whole  house  of  Israel ;"  and  in  thirty-six  out 
of  the  thirty-seven  times,  the  Church  of  Rome  interprets  the  phrase 
as  we  do,  explaining  the  word  "are"  to  mean  "signify;"  but  in 
the  thirty-seventh  instance,  and  in  that  alone,  which  occurs  in  the 
history  of  the  institution  of  the  communion,  and  in  which  the 
words  are,  "  this  is  my  body,"  she  lays  aside  the  process  which 
she  has  pursued  in  the  interpretation  of  all  the  thirty-six  passages 
I  have  referred  to,  and  adopts  a  new  interpretation,  the  issue  of 
which  is  the  most  monstrous  of  all  monstrous  dogmas  held  by  that 
communion,  viz.  Transubstantiation. 

Now,  surely,  you  need  nothing  more  to  convince  you  how  ut- 
terly false  her  interpretation  is  than  this,  that  she  is  afraid  to  carry 
it  out.     She  contrives  to  change  her  interpretation  just  where  her 

interests  or  her  previous  infallible  decisions  are  concerned.    Wher- 

59 


60    THE  SEVEN  STARS  AND  SEVEN  CANDLESTICKS. 

ever  lier  infallible  decrees  are  not  touched,  she  interprets  as  com- 
mon sense  would  surely  lead  us  to  interpret ;  but  wherever  the 
decisions  which  she  has  come  to  by  her  councils  and  in  her  tra- 
ditions go  against  what  is  the  plain  and  obvious  meaning  of  the 
passage,  she  lays  aside  the  whole  plan  that  she  has  pursued  in  in- 
terpreting the  rest  of  the  word  of  God,  and  puts  upon  the  passage 
— the  aid  of  which  she  insists  on  at  all  hazards — a  new,  unnatural, 
and  unjustifiable  interpretation.  Instead  of  bringing  her  theology 
to  God's  word,  to  be  settled  and  controlled  by  it,  she  brings  God's 
word  so  her  synods,  popes,  and  decrees,  to  be  controlled,  and 
shaped,  and  formed  by  them.  Here  is  just  the  broad  distinction 
between  the  principle  of  Protestantism,  as  held  by  all  Christians, 
and  the  principle  of  Romanism,  held  by  true  Romanists  and  by 
pretending  Protestants,  who  are  really  papists.  We  believe  that 
all  creeds,  however  plausible  or  popular,  must  be  tested  by  this 
word ;  and  if  they  are  found  inconsistent  with  it,  they  must  be 
repudiated,  whatever  be  the  consequence :  and  all  truths,  however 
unpopular  they  may  be,  that  can  be  substantiated  here,  must  be 
clung  to  in  life,  and  cherished  in  death,  and  borne  with  us  to  the 
judgment-seat  of  God. 

The  "  angels"  (who  are  here  represented  by  the  seven  stars) 
I  do  not  discuss  controversially;  plainly,  these  angels  are  minis- 
ters of  some  kind, — the  whole  context  shows  that  they  are  so. 
Whether  they  were  bishops,  or  presbyters,  or  deacons,  or  apostles 
or  evangelists,  or  what  they  were  in  ecclesiastical  degree,  is  the 
least  thing ;  that  they  were  ministers  of  the  gospel  is  plainly  and 
distinctly  intimated  in  the  passage.  Milman,  who  has  written  a 
history  of  Christianity,  has  stated  that  the  angel  here  corresponds 
to  the  Jewish  official,  who  was  a  sort  of  secretary  or  writer  in  the 
synagogue,  but  not  possessed  of  any  official  superiority  to  the  rest 
of  his  brethren;  on  the  contrary,  he  was  subject  to  and  controlled 
by  them.  The  Independents  say  that  the  angel  was  an  Inde- 
pendent minister ;  the  Scottish  Church  would  assert  that  he  must 
have  been  something  like  the  moderator  of  the  General  Assembly; 
the  Church  of  England  says  he  must  have  been  a  bishop  or  an 
archbishop.  My  impression  is,  that  perhaps  he  was  none  of  the 
three.  I  do  not  think  the  moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  is 
very  much  like  the  Apocalyptic  Angel ;  and  I  really  suspect,  what 


THE   SEVEN   STARS   AND   SEVEN  CANDLESTICKS.         61 

I  hope  is  without  offence,  that  neither  the  Bishop  of  London,  nor 
of  Exeter,  nor  any  other  bishop  on  the  bench,  is  very  like  him  ; 
and  I  doubt  whether  the  Independent  minister  would  in  all  re- 
spects correspond  to  him. 

Without  looking  at  the  angel  in  the  light  of  the  Church  of 
England,  or  the  Church  of  Scotland,  or  any  other  church,  we  shall 
view  him  simply  as  he  is  here  revealed  to  us — as  a  minister 
preaching  the  gospel,  and  making  known  to  the  churches  the 
unsearchable  riches  of  Christ.  This  name,  as  applied  to  the  minis- 
ters of  the  gospel,  seems  to  me  to  be  an  extremely  beautiful  one. 
The  word  "angel"  we  have  retained  in  our  translation  of  the  Greek 
word  uyytkot;,  but  we  need  not  have  done  so,  for  the  apostle  Paul 
uses  this  very  word,  and  we  translate  it  "  a  messenger."  The 
proper  meaning  of  the  word  ayyeXo:;  is  messenger :  we  use  the 
technical  or  special  term  angel,  but  we  might  just  as  correctly  use 
the  word  messenger.  Thus  we  read  in  the  Old  Testament,  "  He 
maketh  his  angels"  (or  messengers)  "a  flame  of  fire;"  and  in 
Hebrews,  "  Let  all  his  angels  (or  messengers)  "  worship  him." 
And  this  is  the  strict  and  literal  sense  of  the  epithet  here  bestowed 
upon  the  ministers  of  the  gospel.  The  gospel  is  the  message — the 
ministers  of  the  gospel  and  the  evangelists  are  the  messengers. 
The  gospel  itself  is,  literally,  "  the  message  of  good  news;"  and  the 
evangelists  are  simply  the  messengers  of  good  news;  and  hence 
Paul,  in  addressing  the  churches  to  whom  his  Epistles  were  written, 
says,  "Ye  received  me  as  an  angel  of  God."  Now,  if  you  un- 
derstood angel  there  in  its  special  or  limited  sense,  you  would  mis- 
apprehend the  meaning  of  the  apostle.  I  do  not  believe  it  means 
that  they  received  him  as  they  would  have  received  an  angel, 
but  that  they  received  him  as  the  messenger  of  God,  making  known 
the  glad  truths  that  God  had  commissioned  him  to  preach. 

You  will  see,  then,  that  if  the  term  messenger  be  used  as  a 
word  descriptive  of  the  minister  of  the  gospel,  his  great  mission 
is  simply  to  make  known  the  message.  The  angel  or  messenger 
is  not  one  that  rules,  but  one  that  speaks ;  it  is  less  action  and 
more  utterance  that  is  to  characterize  him.  In  the  language  of 
an  ancient  writer,  he  is  to  use  non  verhera,  sed  verba — "not 
stripes,  but  words;"  his  office  is  to  be  pastoral,  rather  than  sove- 
reign ;    he  is  to  be  the   humble   messenger,  not  the  imperial 


62  ■         THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES   OF  ASIA. 

dictator.  And  the  great  beauty  of  his  character  will  be,  not  the 
eloquence  or  the  power,  but  the  faithfulness,  with  which  he  de- 
livers his  message;  and  hence,  says  the  apostle,  we  require  in 
such  ambassadors  that  "  they  be  found  faithful."  Earnest  they 
will  be,  if  Christians ;  eloquent  they  may  be,  if  God  has  given 
them  that  gift ;  faithful  they  must  be,  to  have  any  claim  to  be 
angels  or  messengers  of  Grod  at  all. 

The  next  symbol  used  in  this  place  to  represent  the  ministers 
of  Christ  is,  "stars."  These  angels  or  messengers  are  repre- 
sented under  the  sign  or  symbol  of  stars.  Now,  what  is  the  use 
pf  the  stars,  as  far,  at  least,  as  we  are  concerned  ?  Their  relative 
usefulness  to  us  is  measured  only  by  their  power  of  giving  light. 
What  the  nature  or  the  contents  of  Jupiter,  Mars,  or  Saturn,  or 
the  moon,  or  the  sun  may  be — what  their  atmosphere  may  be — 
what  their  density,  or  distance,  or  size,  or  shape,  or  population 
may  be — are  questions  for  astronomers  to  dispute  about ;  but  to 
the  mariner  on  the  ocean's  bosom,  or  to  the  traveller  in  a  dark 
and  stormy  night,  the  value  of  the  star  consist  not  in  what  is  in 
it,  but  in  what  it  sends  down — that  quiet  and  beautiful  light  that 
leads  them  to  their  home.  It  is  just  so  with  the  ministers  of  the 
gospel.  I  care  far  less  what  the  succession  may  be  to  which  they 
pretend — what  the  commission  may  be  of  which  they  boast;  or 
even  what  their  talents  may  be,  or  what  ecclesiastical  preference 
they  have — these  are  matters  for  synods,  and  bishops,  and  con- 
ventions to  discuss ;  but  as  the  best  star  is  that  which  shines  the 
brightest  in  the  sky,  and  casts  down  the  clearest  light  upon  our 
pathway,  so,  we  may  depend  upon  it,  be  he  Episcopalian,  or 
Presbyterian,  or  Independent,  or  whatever  you  like  to  call  him, 
he  will,  in  the  long  run,  be  felt  and  seen  to  be  the  best  minister 
who  sheds  upon  our  path  the  clearest  light,  and  leads  us  most 
directly  to  the  Lamb. 

These  stars,  in  the  next  place,  have  not  their  light  originally 
and  inherently  in  themselves.  All  the  planets  derive  their  light 
from  the  sun.  There  is  no  evidence  that  Jupiter,  for  instance, 
has  any  self-derived  luminous  power  around  him,  which  he  trans- 
mits to  us ;  but  there  is  conclusive  evidence  that  whatever  light 
comes  from  evening  or  morning  star,  comes  from  it  only  in  pro- 
portion to  what  it  receives  from  the  sun,  the  great  centre  of  the 


THE   SEVEN   STARS   AND   SEVEN   CANDLESTICKS.        63 

Rjstem.  In  other  words,  the  light  of  the  stars  is  a  borrowed, 
not  an  original  light ;  and  the  light  that  we  receive  from  them  is 
the  reflection  of  what  they  receive  from  the  sun.  Does  not  this 
give  us  some  idea  of  what  a  Christian's  life  should  be,  and  still 
more  what  a  minister's  preaching  should  be  ?  We  do  not  want^ 
from  the  minister  the  light  of  science,  except  so  far  as  it  may 
serve  to  clear  away  obstructions  from  the  truth.  We  do  not 
want  the  light  of  philosophy,  or  of  any  thing  else  that  is  con- 
nected with  the  knowledge,  or  contained  in  the  encyclopedias,  of 
man ;  but  what  we  need  in  the  house  of  God  is  light  from  the 
sun  ;  and  the  minister's  sermon  should  be  a  mirror  to  reflect  that 
light,  and  the  minister  a  star  to  transmit  that  light ;  so  that  if 
you  come  to  the  house  of  God  and  hear  discussions  about  endless 
genealogies,  and  anile  fables,  and  the  beauty  of  science,  and  the 
glories  of  astronomy,  and  the  discoveries  of  chemistry — all  good 
and  beautiful  in  their  place — and  nothing  besides ;  then  you  come 
to  a  wandering  star — a  star  that  may  mislead  you,  like  an  ignis 
fatuus,  to  the  depths  of  perdition ;  but  not  to  a  star  placed  by 
the  Sun  of  righteousness  in  its  socket,  to  reflect  upon  a  world 
that  lieth  in  darkness,  the  light  of  that  unsetting  Orb,  who  will 
soon  ascend  his  meridian  with  healing  in  his  wings. 

In  the  next  place,  we  may  note  that  stars  shine  only  in  the 
night-time.  This  is  an  important  point.  When  the  sun  rises 
above  the  horizon,  the  stars  are  instantly  put  out;  not  one  of 
them  is  visible.  It  is  only  when  the  sun  has  sunk  below  the 
margin  of  our  horizon,  that  the  stars  begin  to  twinkle  in  their 
orbits,  in  order  to  supply  by  their  dim  and  distant  rays  the  ab- 
sence, for  a  season,  of  that  glorious  luminary.  The  ministers  of 
the  gospel  are  only  here  until  the  Sun  of  righteousness  shall 
shine  from  his  meridian  throne.  At  present  that  Sun  is  but  just 
above  the  horizon,  and  only  a  portion  of  his  beams  is  visible ; 
his  rays  at  present  are  horizontal,  and  hence  the  best  church  and 
the  holiest  Christian  have  each  very  long  shadows;  but  a  day 
comes  when  he  shall  rise  to  his  meridian  throne,  and  be  vertical 
forever — when  there  shall  be  one  everlasting  and  glorious  noon 
■ — when  there  shall  be  no  shadow,  but  all  perfect  light.  And  in 
the  efi'ulgence  of  that  light  the  stars  that  have  twinkful  in  ten 
thousand  pulpits  shall  be  quenched,  and  we  shall  no  more  teach 


64  THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES   OF    ASIA. 

every  one  his  neighbour,  saying,  ''Know  the  Lord/'  for  allsball 
know  him,  from  the  least  even  unto  the  greatest.  Now,  there  is 
darkness,  therefore  there  are  ordinances — tlien,  there  shall  be  no 
night,  and  therefore  no  ordinances.  Now,  the  ministers  of  the 
gospel  are  needed  to  reflect  the  sunlight — then,  the  reflector  shall 
not  be  required,  for  we  shall  bask  in  the  full  blaze  of  that  bright 
Original,  which  shall  put  out  the  sun,  and  moon,  and  stars,  for 
"  they  have  no  need  of  the  sun,  nor  of  the  moon,  for  the  glory  of 
God  and  of  the  Lamb  doth  lighten  it." 

To  show  you  that  as  the  stars  are  only  for  the  night,  so  minis- 
ters^ are  only  for  this  dispensation,  I  refer  you  to  what  the  apostle 
saysinEph.iv.il:  "He  that  descended  is  the  same  also  that 
ascended  up  far  above  all  heavens,  that  he  might  fill  all  things." 
Then,  after  his  ascension,  "  He  gave  some,  apostles ;  and  some, 
prophets;  and  some  evangelists;  and  some,  pastors  and  teachers." 
For  what  purpose  ?  "  For  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the 
work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ." 
Now,  how  long  ?  (I  wish  you  specially  to  notice  this) — how  long 
are  ministers  to  continue  ?  "  Till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of 
the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  per- 
fect man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of 
Christ."  There  will  be  no  such  thing  as  perfect  unity  in  the 
church  till  the  perfect  Source  of  unity  is  in  the  midst  of  it. 
It  is  the  want  of  Christ  that  makes  a  divided  church;  and 
therefore  were  there  more  Christianity,  there  would  be  less  di- 
vision in  the  church;  if  Christ's  presence  were  more  fully  real- 
ized, there  would  be  greater  unity  in  the  midst  of  it.  But 
the  moment  that  there  is  perfect  unity  and  perfect  conformity 
to  the  stature  of  Christ,  then  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  will 
be  done  away;  their  functions  will  have  expired.  All  then  will 
be  priests,  all  will  "  know  even  as  they  are  known." 

This  suggests  a  very  useful  advice — guard  against  what  I  have 
called  wandering  stars.  Often  the  one  that  twinkles  most  bril- 
liantly is  not  the  one  that  you  are  to  trust  most  implicitly;  a 
meteor  has  a  momentary  splendour  equal  to  that  of  many  stars. 
Trust  God  alone  implicitly ;  pin  not  your  faith  to  a  lawn  sleeve, 
nor  to  a  silk  sleeve,  or  you  will  speedily  find  your  niistiike; 
bring  all  preaching  to  the  Law  and  to  the  Testimony.     "  How  read- 


THE   SEVEN   STARS   AND    SEVEN  CANDLESTICKS.        65 

est  thou?"  "Have  ye  not  read?"  " Is  it  not  written ?"  "Thus 
saith  the  Lord."  Many  persons  have  made  it  a  complaint  against 
Christianity  that  there  have  been,  what  there  are,  bad  ministers. 
I  reply  boldly  to  that  objection,  If  there  were  no  bad  ministers, 
Christianity  would  be  untrue.  You  say,  how  can  that  be  ?  Be- 
cause it  is  expressly  predicted  that  such  ministers  would  be  in  the 
church ;  for  what  does  the  apostle  say  ?  There  shall  come  among 
you  grievous  wolves,  false  apostles,  and  shall  deceive  many;  and 
some  shall  depart  from  the  faith,  giving  heed  to  seducing  spirits 
and  doctrines  of  devils,  and  teaching  for  doctrines  the  command- 
ments of  men.  And  the  prophet  tells  us  that  tke  prophets  shall 
prophesy  falsely.  And  what  shall  the  people  do  ?  Instead  of 
opening  their  Bibles,  and  testing  the  preacher's  doctrine,  they 
will  "  love  to  have  it  so."  My  dear  friends,  do  not  be  misled. 
I  believe  this  great  truth  ought  to  be  taught  at  the  present  day,  viz, 
that  a  truly  Christian  and  converted  people — and,  alas  !  all  com- 
municants are  not  so — do  know  what  the  gospel  is,  and  they  ought 
not  to  listen  to  what  is  not  the  gospel ;  no  prestige  of  circumstance, 
no  pretence  of  sect,  no  attachment  to  party,  no  admiration  of  talent 
should  induce  you  to  place  yourselves  and  your  children  under  a 
minister  who  can  neither  teach  them,  nor  instruct  them,  nor  com- 
fort them.  Prefer  the  vessel  that  is  dear  to  you,  but  touch  not 
the  vessel  that  contains  poison,  instead  of  living  water,  which 
alone  can  refresh  and  comfort  you.  Let  expediencj'^  kindle  its 
light — let  policy  light  its  taper — let  literature  shine  with  its  glow- 
worm ray — let  science  present  its  dusky  light — none  of  these  must 
supersede  the  sun,  or  be  received  for  one  moment  as  substitutes 
for  its  glorious  light.  On  the  other  hand,  let  ministers  of  the 
gospel  see  that  they  radiate  all  the  light :  let  them  take  care  lest 
they  become  prisms  and  not  stars ;  for  if  the  light  be  split  into 
parts,  we  have  not  pure  light;  we  have  yellow,  and  blue,  and 
green,  and  it  will  only  mislead  and  bewilder.  Let  every  minister 
of  the  gospel  see  then  that  he  does  not  always  dwell  upon  one 
truth — on  election,  for  instance,  which  is  one  ray  of  light,  and  a 
very  bright  one,  but  only  one.  If  you  preach  only  election,  you 
are  like  the  prism,  giving  only  portions  of  the  light,  and  not  the 
whole  light ;  a  part  of  the  gospel,  not  the  whole  gospel :  or  if  a 
minister  overstate  man's  free  will,  that  is,  unduly  magnify  man's 

6* 


66  THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES   OF   ASIA. 

responsibility,  he  is  giving  only  another  rainbow  colour,  not  the 
pure  light — a  portion  only  of  the  true  light.  Let  him  present 
the  sovereignty  of  God  and  the  responsibility  of  man,  Christ  as 
our  righteousness,  the  law  as  our  standard,  justification  by  Christ 
alone,  and  sanctification  by  the  Spirit  alone  j  God  tbe  Father 
electing  Love,  God  the  Son  redeeming  Love,  God  the  Spirit 
sanctifying  Love;  the  Bible  without  a  clasp — the  cross  without  a 
screen — the  way  to  heaven  without  an  obstruction,  and  he  will 
then  be  a  true  star,  reflecting  the  pure  light  of  that  Sun  which 
shall  soon  culminate  on  his  glorious  throne,  and  in  whose  clear 
light  we  shall  all  see  clearly. 

This  beautiful  figure  employed  by  the  seer  in  the  Apocalypse 
is  in  perfect  harmony  with  similiar  figures  used  in  his  personal 
ministry  by  our  blessed  Lord.  Thus  he  said  to  his  disciples,  "Ye 
are  the  lights  of  the  world."  Were  I  speaking  to  a  skeptic,  I 
would  say,  "  Here  you  see  an  apparently  poor,  despised,  homeless, 
houseless,  penniless  wanderer,  standing  in  Palestine,  with  the  sha- 
dow of  that  most  glorious  temple  falling  beside  him,  and  the  associa- 
tions of  a  thousand  years  rushing  rapidly  past  him ;  on  the  one 
side,  Greece,  with  all  its  philosophy,  and  its  schools,  and  its  mag- 
nificent literature,  and  its  glorious  statuary,  and  its  matchless 
painting ;  and  on  the  other  side,  Rome,  with  its  soldiers  that  knew 
not  what  fear  was,  and  its  orators,  and  its  historians,  and  its  poets ; 
and  in  the  midst  of  all  this,  you  hear  one  with  no  beauty  that  man 
could  appreciate,  telling  a  few  fishermen  of  Galilee,  *  Ye  are  the 
lights  of  the  world.'  Either  he  that  said  so  must  have  been  a 
maniac,  or  he  must  have  been  God.  There  could  be  no  medium ; 
no  man  in  the  exercise  of  his  sober  judgement  would  have  dared 
to  give  utterance  to  such  an  expression  but  He  who  saw  what  light 
is,  and  was  himself  the  light,  and  made  his  apostles  the  stars  and 
the  radiators  of  that  light,  and  saw  from  afar  that  day  when  it 
would  envelope  all  creation.  He  said  truly — and  successive  ge- 
nerations rise  from  their  tombs  to  attest  it — '  Ye  are  the  lights  of 
the  world.' "  You  philosophers,  you  scientific  men,  you  universi- 
ties of  Greece,  you  orators,  you  poets,  you  statesmen — ^you  are  but 
the  meteors,  the  ignes  fatui  of  the  world;  you  fishermen  of  Galilee, 
because  you  are  lightened  with  the  true  light,  ''you  are  the  lights 
of  the  world."     Kings  do  but  darken,  philosophers  do  but  pervert, 


THE  SEVEN  STARS  AND  SEVEN  CANDLESTICKS.    67 

poets  do  but  betray;  Christians,  wherever  they  are,  and  they  alone, 
radiate  that  light.  Let, us  pray  that  we  may  simply  radiate  the 
light  of  Christ  upon  the  world — that,  whether  we  preach,  or  whe- 
ther we  teach,  or  whether  we  live  in  the  world,  we  may  not  let 
our  prejudices  or  passions  make  the  impression  that  shall  live 
longest,  behind  us.  Let  the  light  of  Christ  alone  leave  its  impress 
upon  the  world  through  which  we  have  passed. 

What  is  the  great  truth  which  that  light  reveals  ?  If  there  be 
one  truth  or  aphorism  that  it  reveals  more  vividly  than  another 
it  is  this,  "  Sinners  ruined  by  nature,  restored  by  grace."  Let 
this  light  shine  on  every  English  mountain-top — let  it  sparkle 
upon  every  deck  that  sails  or  sleeps  on  the  bosom  of  the  deep — let 
it  shine  with  awful  lustre  on  the  Vatican — let  it  be  resplendent 
on  the  tomb  of  the  false  prophet.  Wherever  the  crucifix  or  the 
crescent  are,  God  grant  that  this  light  shining  from  a  thousand 
stars  may  reveal  this  great  truth,  "  We  are  ruined  by  nature — we 
can  be  restored  only  by  Christ."  But  these  stars,  the  outline 
features  of  which  I  have  endeavoured  to  detail,  are  said  to  be 
placed  in  a  distinct  and  peculiar  position.  We  read,  "  the  mystery 
of  the  seven  stars  which  thou  sawest  in  my  right  hand ;"  and  the 
apostle,  in  describing  the  appearance  of  our  Lord,  says,  that  he 
saw  him  having  "  seven  stars  in  his  right  hand,"  i.  e.  in  the  form 
of  a  circlet,  or  coronet ;  and  this  teaches  us  that  the  ministers 
of  the  gospel  are  in  Christ's  right  hand.  This  hieroglyph  is  elo- 
quent with  comfort,  as  well  as  with  intimations  of  duty.  The 
ministers  of  the  gospel  are  in  Christ's  right  hand,  and  therefore 
they  are  safe.  This  is  their  protection  in  the  world  in  the  per- 
formance of  the  severest  and  most  unpopular  duty  which  they 
have  to  discharge.  Wherever  their  position  sends  them,  their 
whole  hope  of  protection  is  in  this — they  are  in  Christ's  right 
hand.  It  is  very  easy  for  us,  living  in  a  land  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty,  to  say  so;  but  it  needs,  indeed,  to  be  realized  by  those  who 
have  to  "  war  with  wild  beasts,"  like  the  apostle,  and  to  preach 
to  ttie  reluctant  and  rebellious  heathen,  or  to  the  evasive  and 
sophistical  Jew,  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ. 

All  ministers  of  the  gospel,  down  to  the  humblest  city  mission- 
ary, depend  for  safety  solely  on  this  fact — that  they  are  in  the 
hands  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     Nothing  is  more  easily  destroyed 


68  THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES   OF  ASIA. 

than  ministerial  character.  An  innuendo  detracts  from  a  minis- 
ter's influence ;  the  idle  calumny  of  idle  busy-bodies  may  injure 
a  minister's  usefulness.  Let  him  ever  recollect,  and  let  those  who 
■would  injure  him  also  recollect,  that  this  is  his  protection — he  is 
"  in  Christ's  right  hand."  But  this  is  not  only  the  protection  of 
the  ministers  of  the  gospel — it  is  also  their  strength  and  their  suf- 
ficiency. "  Who,"  says  an  apostle,  "  is  sufficient  for  these  things  ?" 
The  answer  is — Our  sufficiency  is  of  God,  and  the  spring  and  foun- 
tain of  that  sufficiency  is  the  right  hand  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
This  teaches  us,  too,  that  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  are  the  instru- 
ments of  Christ.  It  is  the  right  hand  that  wields  the  sword  and 
flings  the  dart ;  and  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  are  in  his  right 
hand  in  token  that  they  are  at  his  bidding,  and  that  they  are  to 
be  wielded  by  him.  This  great  truth  should  settle  many  disputes. 
You  may  have  the-votes  of  the  people,  or  the  voice  of  the  crown 
— you  may  be  appointed  by  the  patron,  or  elected  by  the  worship- 
per ;  consecrated  by  the  bishop,  or  ordained  by  the  presbytery ; 
and  yet  lack  the  glory,  and  beauty,  and  perfection  of  a  true  minis- 
ter. These  are  external  things — matters  on  which  each  may  have 
his  preference ;  but  here  is  the  true  place  and  the  source  of  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  minister  of  the  gospel — in  the  right  hand  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  If  he  occupies  this  place,  all  the  rest  is  cir- 
cumstantial ;  this  is  essential  and  indispensable. 

And  lastly,  these  seven  stars  are  said  to  be  in  Christ's  right 
hand  to  denote  their  perfect  equality.  You  are  aware  that  the 
discipline  held  by  the  Church  of  Scotland,  as  well  as  by  several 
bodies  that  have  seceded  from  her  is,  that  all  ministers  are 
perfectly  equal — that  the  church  is  governed  by  the  presbytery 
and  that  they  are  all  presbyters.  We  are  sometimes  charged 
with  having  no  bishops;  we  have  in  the  Church  of  Scotland 
some  twelve  or  thirteen  hundred  bishops.  The  fact  is,  we  are 
all  bishops  in  Scotland,  like  those  of  Ephesus;  but  so  much 
are  we  the  creatures  of  circumstance,  that  we  think  there  can- 
not be  a  bishop  unless  he  has  very  many  thousands  a-year.  I 
believe  the  time  is  coming  when  some  bishops,  at  least,  must 
do  with  less.  I  am  certain  that  a  time  is  near  when  nothing 
but  a  thorough  reformation  of  abuses  can  save  the  most  pre- 
cious institutions  that  we  have  3  and  it  is  a  friend,  not  a  foe,  that 


THE   SEVEN   STARS   AND  SEVEN   CAI!iDLESTICKS.         69 

says  so.  I  am  no  revolutionist :  I  have  no  sympathy  with  those 
who  would  destroy;  but  of  this  I  am  thoroughly  convinced — that 
we  live  in  a  new  age,  when  new  tests,  and  new  analyses,  and  new 
ordeals  are  demanded.  An  educated  people,  a  thinking  people,  a 
searching  people  are  rising  on  every  side  j  and  they  that  possess 
power  will  have  to  wield  it  in  love,  and  they  that  hug  abuses  that 
are  dear  to  them,  will  find  they  sit  upon  a  volcano  which  may  ex- 
plode at  a  moment's  notice. 

I  ought,  however,  to  correct  or  explain  what  I  have  said.  I 
do  not  mean  that  it  is  wrong  for  bishops  or  any  other  men  to  be 
wealthy;  I  think  there  is  a  great  deal  of  unjust  prejudice  on  this 
subject.  Some  people  say  ministers  ought  not  to  be  rich;  perhaps 
it  is  best  for  them  that  they  should  not  be  so;  but  it  is  quite  plain 
that  if  wealth  be  sin  in  a  minister,  it  cannot  be  less  so  in  a  layman. 
If  a  minister  is  likely  to  abuse  his  money,  a  lawyer,  or  physician, 
or  merchant  is  not  less  likely  to  abuse  his,  and  therefore  the  dan- 
ger is  quite  as  great  in  a  layman  having  it  as  in  a  minister  having 
it;  and  when  it  is  urged  that  the  Jirst  ministers  of  the  gospel  had 
nothing,  I  must  reply,  The  Jirst  Christians  brought  their  all,  and 
laid  it  at  the  ministers'  feet ;  so  that  when  we  speak  of  what  is 
wrong  in  the  one  direction,  we  may  also  speak  of  what  is  wrong 
in  the  opposite.  The  pulpit,  like  Him  who  inspires  it,  must  have 
no  respect  of  persons.     God  grant  that  this  may  long  be  so  ! 

The  next  symbol  to  which  I  refer  in  this  passage  is,  "  The  seven 
golden  candlesticks  are  seven  churches."  "The  seven  stars,"  we 
have  seen,  "  are  the  seven  angels ;"  "  the  seven  golden  candlesticks 
are  the  seven  churches."  The  church  is  here  represented  by  a 
candlestick.  This  is  not  a  figure  which  I  adopt,  but  a  figure  that 
is  sanctioned  and  adopted  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  Now,  what 
is  the  great  object  of  a  candlestick  ?  To  hold  a  light.  It  matters 
not  how  exquisite  the  chasing  of  the  silver  may  be,  or  how  pre- 
cious the  gold  of  which  it  is  made  :  you  may  prefer  a  candlestick 
of  a  particular  material,  or  of  a  peculiar  form  ;  but  it  is  plain  that 
if  you  have  received,  on  some  dark  winter  evening,  a  letter  from 
some  dear,  but  distant  relative,  of  whom  yoji  are  anxious  to  hear  all 
that  is  good  and  happy,  you  would  prefer  to  a  golden  candlestick 
without  a  candle  upon  it,  a  wooden  one,  with  a  bright  and  clear 
light  upon  it.     So  it  is  with  a  church  :  some  of  you  would  prefer 


70  THE   SEVEN    CHURCHES   OF  ASIA. 

the  Church  of  England,  which  I  will  call,  if  you  please,  the  golden 
candlestick ;  but  I  am  sure  that  you  would  prefer,  if  you  are 
Christians  indeed,  the  humblest  Methodist  meeting-house,  with 
the  light  of  Life  perpetually  shining  in  it,  to  the  most  magnificent 
cathedral,  with  an  archbishop  in  its  pulpit,  who  neither  is,  nor  has 
light. 

In  the  next  place,  we  judge  of  the  excellence  of  a  candlestick 
by  its  fitness  for  the  object  to  which  it  is  destined.  We  do  not 
say  that  is  the  best  candlestick  which  is  made  of  gold  or  silver. 
It  may  be  made  of  gold,  but  incapable  of  standing  on  the  table 
alone ;  or  it  may  have  no  place  in  which  a  candle  may  be  firmly 
placed  :  it  cannot  then  answer  your  purpose  ;  or  it  may  not  hold 
the  light  high  enough  for  you  to  see  by  it.  What  you  require  is 
the  one  that  stands  steadiest,  remains  firmest,  holds  the  light 
highest,  and  grasps  that  light  the  most  firmly.  In  other  words, 
we  judge  of  the  thing  by  the  completeness  with  which  it  answers 
the  end  for  which  that  thing  was  made.  So  must  we  judge  of  a 
church.  That  is  the  best  church  that  does  best  the  church's  duty 
— that  is  the  best  pulpit,  whatever  it  be  made  of,  that  holds  the 
most  faithful  minister — that  is  the  best  minister,  who  gives  you  the 
greatest  light,  interests  your  mind  the  most  deepl}-,  touches  your 
heart  the  most  powerfully,  and  conveys  knowledge  most  truly.  You 
judge  of  the  minister  by  the  completeness  with  which  he  does  his 
work;  and  if  men  would  carry  this  common-sense  criterion  into  the 
church,  as  they  do  carry  it  into  the  shop,  the  counting-house,  the 
place  of  business,  I  am  quite  sure  there  would  be  less  Puseyism, 
and  still  less  Popery  found  in  the  visible  church.  And  this  leads 
us  to  another  very  important  truth.  Our  Lord  said,  '<  Men  do  not 
light  a  candle,  and  put  it  under  a  bushel,  but  they  put  it  on  a 
candlestick,  and  it  gives  light  to  the  whole  house."  Now  when 
the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  church  are  so  multiplied  that  they 
darken  or  conceal  the  light  of  the  church,  it  is  lighting  a  candle, 
and  putting  it  under  a  bushel — when  the  prayer  offered  by  the 
minister,  or  in  the  ritual  or  the  liturgy,  is  so  eloquent  in  language 
that  it  attracts  the  attention  to  its  words,  instead  of  the  heart  to 
its  meaning,  this  is  placing  the  candle  under  a  bushel — when  the 
place  of  worship  is  so  intricate  in  the  furniture  with  which  it  in 
adorned,  that  the   people   think  only  of  the  work,  and  think 


THE  SEVEN  STARS  AND  SEVEN  CANDLESTICKS.    71 

nothing  of  the  object  for  which  it  was  intended,  then  the  candlo- 
Btick  is  put  under  a  bushel — or  when  the  building  is  so  construct- 
ed that  the  possibility  of  the  people  hearing  or  seeing  the  minister, 
is  sacrificed  to  the  necessity  of  making  the  whole  Roman,  or  Gothic 
or  Norman,  or  in  any  other  style  of  architecture — and  when  the 
practical  use  of  a  church  is  made  subordinate  to  its  decorations, 
then  the  candle  is  put  under  a  bushel.  Or  when  the  Bible  is 
written  in  Latin,  or  in  Greek,  and  presented  to  the  people  un- 
translated— or  when  the  print  is  so  small,  and  the  paper  so  bad, 
that,  however  cheap  its  price,  the  people  can  m^ke  no  use  of  it, 
then  the  candle  is  put  under  a  bushel. 

The  grand  and  noble  law  of  the  Christian  economy  is,  "Every 
thing  done  for  edification  j"  and  in  proportion  as  it  fixils  to  con- 
duce to  edification,  the  candle  is  concealed  by  the  bushel  that 
is  placed  above  it ;  but  when  every  thing — the  preaching  of  the 
minister,  the  liturgy,  the  worship,  the  singing,  the  praying,  are 
looked  upon  as  means  to  an  end,  and  every  thing  is  subordinated 
to  the  edification  of  the  people — then,  I  say,  every  thing  is  in 
its  place,  and  all  is  as  it  should  be.  I  do  not  mean  to  teach, 
by  any  thing  I  have  said,  that  churches  should  be  ugly  or  bald. 
So  much  has  this  been  the  case  in  some  churches,  and  so  much 
was  it  the  case  in  this  church  before  it  was  repaired,  altered, 
and  enlarged,  that  to  sit  in  the  Scotch  church  was  said  by 
some  to  be  "  equivalent  to  doing  penance  in  the  Roman."  This 
is  by  no  means  my  preference.  If  our  houses  are  made  taste- 
ful and  convenient,  surely  the  house  of  God  ought  to  be  so 
too.  There  should  be  nothing  symbolic  in  it — this  is  the  essence 
of  Popery — but  every  thing  in  it  conducive  to  the  object  for 
which  it  was  designed,  and  to  the  edification  if  those  that  hear; 
— this  is  scriptural  and  Protestant  Christianity. 

The  light  by  which  the  candle  in  the  ancient  temple  was 
lighted  was  taken  from  the  flame  that  was  originally  kindled 
from  heaven — ^the  light  that  lights  the  minister  must  be  from 
the  Fountain  of  Light — the  light  that  he  gives  us,  as  I  have 
shown  you,  must  be  from  the  sun  alone. 

Again,  the  candle  in  the  ancient  temple  was  fed  by  holy  oil, 
and  oil  which  it  was  alike  a  crime — ^blasphemy  to  attempt  to 
imitate.     The  unction   that  the  minister  of  the  gospel  should 


72  THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES   OF  ASIA. 

have,  is  the  unction  of  the  Holy  One.  If  the  minister's  light 
is  the  reflection  of  Christ,  his  light  and  life  ought  to  be  fed 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  And  what  is  true  of  the  minister 
is  no  less  true  of  the  people;  their  light  should  be  from  the 
sun ;  their  holiness,  their  love,  their  grace,  from  the  Spirit  of 
God.  And  just  in  proportion  as  a  nation  has  faithful  ministers, 
and  holy  people,  and  devoted  Christians,  and  increasing  numbers 
of  them,  in  the  same  proportion  will  that  nation  be  peaceful, 
and  prosperous,  and  happy.  We  have  much  evidence  of  this 
fact :  it  is  where.  Christianity  has  had  the  greatest  influence,  that 
the  people  have  risen  to  the  highest  pitch  in  all  that  elevates, 
ennobles,  and  adorns  a  nation.  And  it  will  be  foun^that  where 
Christianity  has  perished,  there  literature,  and  poetry,  and  arts, 
and  legislation  have  perished  too.  Science,  in  the  hands  of 
Infidelity,  becomes  mere  materialism ;  poetry,  in  the  power  of 
Infidelity,  degenerates  into  sensualism ;  and  nations  without  Chris- 
tianity become  poor,  and  miserable,  and  blind,  and  wretched 
indeed.  Even  where  Christianity,  when  it  is  predominant,  is 
not  valued  by  literary  men,  you  will  notice  that  they  dare  say 
little  against  it.  It  is  only  the  wretched,  paltry  Sunday  news- 
papers, that  come  out,  like  the  moles  and  the  bats,  in  the 
darkness  of  the  night,  to  do  mischief,  and  retire  on  the  approach 
of  day,  that  can  afibrd  to  point  their  foolish  jests  at  the  gospel, 
and  make  jokes  at  the  expense  of  the  Bible.  The  first  and 
ablest  papers,  magazines,  and  reviews,  whatever  be  their  defi- 
ciencies in  many  Christian  elements,  and  even  Christian  expres- 
sion— and  they  are,  many  of  them,  deficient  in  these — yet  will 
not,  ay,  and  dare  not,  directly  attack  the  gospel,  or  seek  to 
undermine  that  blessed  Book,  which  has  for  its  author  God, 
and  for  its  end  the  salvation  of  the  chiefest  of  sinners.  The 
light  of  the  gospel  is  the  light  of  the  world ;  and  in  proportion 
as  that  sun  shall  rise  higher  above  the  horizon,  all  literature, 
all  science,  all  philosophy,  all  poetry,  will  become  consecrated, 
and  pure,  and  holy  also. 

Let  me  notice  one  other  feature  in  the  Jewish  economy.  The 
candlestick  was  put  in  the  place  where  the  priests  were,  and 
only  in  that  place.  It  had  seven  branches,  but  only  one  stem. 
In  the  gospel   church  here   delineated  there   are   seven  stems, 


THE   SEVEN   STARS    AND  SEVEN   CANDLESTICKS.       73 

and  each  stem  has  seven  branches.  The  great  lesson  to  be  taught 
was,  that  in  the  Jewish  church,  Christianity  was  confined  to  a 
place,  or  a  nation — that  the  light  was  placed  where  alone  it  could 
burn,  in  holy,  consecrated  ground.  Beyond,  all  was  darkness, 
and  blankness,  and  coldness ;  but  in  the  Christian  dispensation 
all  ground  is  holy.  Never  forget  that  in  the  Christian  dispensation 
there  is  no  holy  place  like  that  of  the  ancient  temple,  or  that  in 
which  the  candlestick  stood ;  but  that  all  ground  is  holy.  And 
this  reminds  me  of  what  is  the  secret  of  the  introduction,  in  the 
Diocese  of  Exeter,  of  stone  altars,  and  oratories,  and  crucifixes. 
All  this  is  designed  to  introduce  the  thin  edge  of  the  wedge,  which 
has  been  blessed  by  Pius  IX.,  and  with  which  he  hopes  to  rend 
our  Protestant  country  into  a  thousand  pieces.  I  allude  to  these 
matters,  because  faithfulness  requires  that  I  should  do  so.  What 
was  called  an  "  oratory"  was  erected  in  a  domestic  establishment, 
with  an  altar  in  it,  and  a  cross  upon  the  altar,  with  other  para- 
phernalia of  Rome ;  and  bishop  and  clergy  coincided  that  it  was 
proper  that  there  should  be  such  a  place  in  every  house,  for  family 
worship.  I  deny  this;  the  kitchen  floor,  the  dining-room  floor, 
the  drawing-room  carpet,  are  all  holy  ground,  if  holy  hearts  bow 
their  knees  upon  them.  When  my  Lord  allied  himself  to  a  por- 
tion of  the  dust,  he  consecrated  every  acre  by  that  act;  he  requires 
only  holy  hearts  to  pray  and  holy  tongues  to  confess,  and  all  the  earth 
on  which  there  is  such  worship  is  holy  ground;  and  to  attempt  to 
make  a  vital  distinction,  and  especially  to  attempt  to  carry  such  a 
distinction  into  our  domestic  worship,  is  to  throw  back  Christianity 
into  Judaism,  and  Protestantism  itself  into  Popery.  However  beau- 
tiful churches  and  temples  may  be,  they  are  not  the  body ;  the  true 
church  is  made  up  of  living  stones;  and  this  reminds  me  of  a  passage 
which  I  wish  you  specially  to  notice ;  it  is  in  Luke  xxi.  5 :  "And  as 
some"  (i.  e.  the  apostles)  "spake  of  the  temple,  how  it  was  adorned 
with  goodly  stones  and  gifts,  he  said,  As  for  these  things  which  ye 
behold,  the  days  will  come  in  the  which  there  shall  not  be  left  one 
stone  upon  another,  that  shall  not  be  thrown  down."  When  the 
disciples  went  into  the  temple,  what  was  it  that  first  caught  their 
eye?  Just  that  which  captivated  the  man  and  the  Jew — the 
man  praising  the  seen,  and  despising  the  unseen;  the  Jew  admir- 

7 


74  THE  SEVEN  CHURCHES  OF  ASIA.    ^ 

ing  the  splendid  material  worship,  caring  little  about  the  spiritual 
— the  temple  appearing  to  them  so  great,  simply  because  their 
minds  and  hearts  were  so  little;  but  if  the  apostles  saw  something 
and  such  as  I  have  described,  in  the  temple  to  admire,  we  read 
that  our  Lord  found  something  in  it  to  admire  also.  Christ,  the 
Lord  of  glory,  found  in  the  temple  an  object  that  attracted  his 
notice;  and  the  disciples  also  found  an  object  which  attract-ed 
theirs.  We  have  seen  what  the  apostles  saw  and  wondered  at — 
the  glorious  architecture,  the  lofty  pillars,  and  clustering  capitals, 
and  beautiful  ornaments — these  were  that  charmed  and  captivated 
them.  But  what  did  Christ  see  ?  Read  the  beginning  of  the 
chapter,  and  you  will  find  there  what  caught  his  eye.  Jesus 
looked  up,  and  saw  the  rich  men  casting  their  gifts  into  the  trea- 
sury. And  he  saw  also  a  certain  poor  widow  casting  in  thither 
two  mites.  And  he  said,  "  Of  a  truth  I  say  unto  you,  that  this 
poor  widow  hath  cast  in  more  than  they  all :  for  all  these  have 
of  their  abundance  cast  in  unto  the  offerings  of  God :  but  she 
of  her  penury  hath  cast  in  all  the  living  that  she  had."  The 
disciples  saw  the  splendid  stones — Christ  saw  nothing  there  but 
that  humble,  despised,  and  holy  widow.  And  what  did  he  see 
in  her  ?  He  saw  in  that  widow's  soul  a  sanctuary  more  glori- 
ous than  the  temple  of  Jerusalem ;  and  in  that  widow's  offering 
a  sacrifice  more  precious  than  a  thousand  rams,  and  bulls,  and 
goats;  and  in  that  woman  a  living  stone  more  splendid  and 
enduring  than  all  the  clustering  columns,  and  vast  arches,  and 
fretted  ceilings  of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem ;  so  truly  does  moral 
excel  material  glory.  The  Jew,  the  disciple,  the  man,  saw 
nothing  but  splendid  architecture;  the  Lord  Jesus  was  blind 
and  indifferent  to  it  all,  and  saw  nothing  but  a  poor  widow  cast- 
ing her  mites  into  the  treasury.  It  is  not  the  consecrated  stone, 
but  the  holy  chancel  of  the  holy  heart  of  the  living  stone; 
based  upon  the  true  foundation,  the  head  Corner-stone.  And 
wherever  that  widow  cast  in  her  mite  and  worshipped,  there  Christ 
could  see  a  holy  temple  and  holy  ground. 

We  see  in  the  next  place  in  this  candlestick  many  branches, 
forming  one  candlestick;  denoting,  that  in  the  Christian  church 
there  should  be  unity  of  doctrine,  but,  it  may  be,  diversity  of 


THE  SEVEN  STARS  AND  SEVEN  CANDLESTICKS.   75 

discipline ;  unity  of  principle,  variety  of  devolopment.  But  I 
hasten  to  urge  one  or  two  inferences. 

First,  we  see  what  the  normal  and  radical  idea  of  the  church 
of  Christ  is.  It  is  just  wherever  Christ  is.  We  have  Christ 
walking  in  the  midst  of  these  candlesticks,  given  as  the  great  idea 
of  what  constitutes  the  essential  element  of  the  true  church  of 
Christ.  "  Wheresoever  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my 
name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."  And  this  doctrine  is 
the  rule  now,  just  as  much  as  it  was  then :  wherever  Christ  is 
walking,  that  is,  is  present,  in  the  midst  of  the  golden  candlesticks 
— the  place  may  be  a  prison: — the  number  may  be  two — the  cathe- 
dral beautiful — but  it  is  a  true  church.  A  large  audience  is 
delightful,  but  the  church  is  not  confined  to  a  numerous  congre- 
gation. "Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name, 
there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."  They  need  not  meet  at  Loretto, 
or  at  Compostella,  or  at  Rome,  or  in  the  oratory  at  Exeter;  Avhere- 
soever  they  are  met  in  the  name  of  Christ,  to  read  his  word,  and 
do  his  will,  and  lean  upon  his  intercession  and  sacrifice,  and  pray 
for  his  blessing,  and  celebrate  his  praise,  there  you  have  the  es- 
sence of  a  church. 

Secondly,  you  have  here  the  unity  of  the  true  church — Christ 
in  the  midst  of  the  candlesticks — one  light  from  the  holy  altar 
kindling  them — one  oil,  the  unction  of  the  Holy  One,  feeding 
them — one  Lord  and  High-Priest  walking  in  the  midst  of  them. 
Union  to  Christ  is  the  essence  of  unity,  and  in  the  absence  of  this, 
all  else  is  but  the  semblance  and  the  form. 

We  have  next  the  purity  of  the  church.  Discipline  may 
be  useful,  but  the  great  source  of  its  unity  is  its  realizing  the 
presence,  and  hearing  the  voice  of  the  Lord  Jesus  walking  in 
the  midst  of  it. 

Here,  too,  we  have  the  safety  of  the  true  church — not  mul- 
titude, or  rank,  or  wealth,  but  Christ  himself  in  the  midst  of 
it.  And,  finally,  you  see  here  the  glory  of  the  true  church — 
Christ,  the  light  of  the  world,  walking  in  the  midst  of  it.  May 
Christ  walk  in  the  midst  of  us !  may  he  make  this  congregation 
a  candlestick  indeed !  and  may  he  make  me,  and  all  the  minis- 
ters who  speak  to  you  from  this  place,  stars  in  his  right  hand ! 
May  it  be  your  prayer  in  your   homes,  the  aspiration  of  your 


76  THE  SEVEN  CHURCHES  OP    ASIA. 

hearts,  that  Christ  would  be  present  here;  and  then,  whether 
it  be  rich  or  poor,  learned  or  ignorant,  we  have  a  presence  that 
is  a  substitute  for  all,  when  all  these  are  gone ;  and  which  su- 
persedes by  its  splendour  and  its  glory  all,  when  all  these  are 
present;  and  which  will  never  fail  us  nor  forsake  us,  until  the 
light  of  this  dusky  twilight  is  lost  in  the  noonday  splendour 
of  the  millennial  morn,  when  there  shall  be  neither  stars  nor 
candlesticks,  but  the  great  and  overflowing  sea  of  overwhelm- 
ing light,  and  in  that  clear  light  all  will  see  Christ,  and  each 
other,  clearly. 


LECTURE  V. 

THE  CHUECH  OP  EPHESUS — HER  EXCELLENCY. 

"  Unto  the  aagel  of  the  church  of  Ephesus  write ;  These  things  saith  he  that 
holdeth  the  seven  stars  in  his  right  hand,  who  walkoth  in  the  midst  of  the  seven 
golden  candlesticks ;  I  know  thy  works,  and  thy  labour,  and  thy  patience,  and 
how  thou  canst  not  bear  them  which  are  evil :  and  thou  hast  tried  them  which 
say  they  are  apostles,  and  are  not,  and  hast  found  them  liars :  and  hast  borne, 
and  hast  patience,  and  for  my  name's  sake  hast  laboured,  and  hast  not  fainted." 
—Rev.  ii.  1-3. 

It  must  be  apparent  to  the  most  casual  reader  of  the  whole 
beautiful  address  to  the  church  of  Ephesus,  that  it  naturally  divides 
itself  into  three  sections ;  the  first  section"  containing  an  eulo- 
giuni  or  panegyric  upon  the  excellence  that  was  seen  by  Christ 
in  the  Ephcsian  church;  the  second  section  containing  his  rebuke, 
in  which  he  points  out  the  sins  and  deficiencies  by  which  that 
church  was  stained ;  and  the  third  recording  the  beautiful  promise, 
"  To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life." 

In  this  lecture,  in  reliance  on  the  grace  and  Spirit  of  God,  who 
has  promised  to  teach  speaker  and  hearer  "all  the  truth,"  I  will 
direct  your  attention  to  the  first  division;  viz.  the  excellence  which 
the  great  Chief  Bishop  of  the  Church  saw,  and  approved,  and  ap- 
plauded in  the  Ephesian  church.  Last  Lord's-day  evening  I 
showed  you  why  ministers  are  called  stars.  They  are  placed  in 
the  firmament — a  place  conspicuous  and  eminent ;  they  are  simply 
and  solely  for  the  purpose  of  illuminating  the  darkness  of  the  night 
in  the  absence  of  the  sun.  The  minister  who  does  not  shine,  and 
whose  sermons  do  not  reflect  light,  is  a  minister  whom  men  may 
have  made,  but  whom  God  has  not  consecrated.  I  showed  you, 
in  the  next  place,  that  churches  are  likened  to  candlesticks,  be- 
cause they  are  constituted  for  the  purpose  of  holding  up  the  light; 
and  I  put  it  to  the  common  sense  of  every  man  to  determine  what 

7*  77 


78  THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES   OF  ASIA. 

is  the  best  church.  One  would  prefer  a  candlestick  of  gold,  ex- 
quisitely chased,  of  great  weight,  and  great  value ;  but  if  a  letter 
comes  from  a  dear  and  distant  relative,  and  it  reaches  us  in  the 
darkness  of  the  night,  and  our  hearts  beat  wiih  anxiety  to  peruse 
it,  we  shall  prefer  a  bright  light  upon  a  wooden  candlestick,  to  no 
light  at  all  upon  a  gold  or  silver  one.  By  all  means  prefer  the 
golden  candlestick,  but  insist  that  there  shall  be  light  in  it.  Some 
of  you  may  think  the  Church  of  England  the  golden  candlestick, 
and  the  Church  of  Scotland  the  wooden  one,  if  you  like ;  others 
may  think,  as  some  do  think,  that  it  is  no  candlestick  at  all ;  but 
you  are  to  judge  of  it,  not  by  what  men  say,  but  by  the  light  that 
it  distributes ;  and,  depend  upon  it,  that  the  church  that  gives 
the  most  light  is  the  church  that  does  its  mission  best;  and  whether 
it  be  gold,  or  silver,  or  lead,  or  wood,  or  stone,  this  is  the  material 
thing — this  the  essential  thing — that  it  shall  hold  forth  a  light  to 
our  feet,  and  a  lamp  to  our  path. 

I  noticed  next  this  beautiful  fact,  that  the  Lord  walks  in  the 
midst  of  the  candlesticks;  in  other  words,  that  "wheresoever  two 
or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the 
midst  of  them."  I  have  often  referred  you  to  that  passage ;  it 
contains  the  essence  of  a  church ;  it  is  the  root  and  pith  of  a 
church;  all  else,  in  my  humble  judgment — be  it  Independency, 
Presbytery,  or  Episcopacy — is  more  or  less  human  and  convenient 
developments  of  the  one  great  essential  element  of  a  church;  viz. 
Christ  in  the  midst  of  two  or  three  met  in  hi?  name,  it  matters 
not  where.  Man  makes  much  of  place,  and  attaches  great  vene- 
ration to  places ;  God  attaches  none.  That  man  is  destitute  of 
taste  who  does  not  admire  the  noble  cathedral,  that  seems  to  be 
the  very  stone  of  the  earth  bursting  upward  into  blossom,  and 
sending  its  new  and  sacred  fragrance,  like  holy  aspirations,  to  the 
skies ;  but  that  man  is  destitute  of  Christianity,  who  says  there  is 
no  church  outside  it.  I  showed  you,  too,  a  very  striking  instance 
in  illustration  of  this,  namely,  in  the  Gospel  of  St.Luke,  where  we 
read  that  when  our  Lord  and  his  disciples  met  in  the  beautiful 
temple  that  was  raised  bjj  Herod,  they  looked  around  them  in  that 
temple,  and  the  disciples  saw  one  thing,  the  Lord  of  glory  saw 
another  thing.  Both  the  Master  and  his  disciples,  both  Christ 
and  the  apostles,  admired  and  applauded  something,  and  each  the 


THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS— HER  EXCELLENCY.        79 

thing  that  each  thought  most  beautiful.  What  did  the  disciples 
think  most  beautiful  ?  They  said,  "  Behold  what  manner  of 
stones  these  are  !  what  exquisite  architecture  !  what  a  triumph  of 
genius  !  what  a  glorious  edifice  !  Look,  Master,  and  see  what  a 
beautiful  temple  we  and  our  fathers  have  worshipped  in  I"  That 
was  the  object  of  their  admiration.  But  what  did  Jesus  take  no- 
tice of?  He  said,  "These  stones  are  but  chiselled  dust;  not  one 
stone  shall  be  left  upon  another.  They  seem  so  great  to  you, 
because  you  are  so  little.  I  see  a  more  sublime  spectacle  by  far 
— a  poor  widow  woman  coming  in,  casting  in  a  mite  into  the  trea- 
sury." Jesus  was  so  charmed  with  the  glory  of  that  moral  spec- 
tacle, that  he  was  blind  to  the  splendours  of  the  architectural  one. 
The  disciples  admired  the  dead  stones  piled  by  the  hand  of  the 
architect;  the  disciples'  Lord  admired  only  the  widow  casting  a 
mite  into  the  treasury.  The  former  were  dead  stones — the  latter 
was  a  living  stone.  The  former  were  beautiful  apparently — 
the  latter  was  beautiful  indeed ;  and  the  contrast  teaches  us,  that  it 
is  the  moral  that  lights  up  the  physical,  not  the  physical  that  can 
add  any  lustre  to  the  moral. 

I  now  pass  to  the  substance  of  the  epistle  addressed  to  the 
church  at  Ephesus.  You  will  notice  that  Christ  introduced  him- 
self in  each  of  these  epistles  to  the  seven  churches  with  some  of 
those  attributes  in  which  he  was  disclosed  in  the  opening  chapter. 
We  have  one  of  these  attributes  in  the  preface  to  each  epistle — 
that  one  -of  the  Lord's  sublime  attributes  being  selected  which  is 
most  appropriate  to  the  peculiar  moral  and  spiritual  state  of  the 
community  which  is  addressed. 

In  order  that  we  may  know  something  of  the  origin  and  history 
of  the  church  of  Ephesus,  let  us  turn  to  those  passages  of  Scinp- 
ture  which  give  us  an  account  of  it.  We  have,  first,  the  histo- 
rical account  of  the  church  of  Ephesus  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles ; 
secondly,  an  apostle's  epistle  to  the  church  of  Ephesus,  called  the 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians;  and  thirdly^  the  autograph  letter  of 
Christ  himself  to  that  church — this  epistle  in  the  first  person  sent 
by  our  Lord  himself. 

I  turn,  first  of  all,  to  Acts  xix.,  where  we  find  a  sketch  in  brief 
of  the  introduction  of  the  gospel  at  Ephesus.  We  there  read  that 
Paul,  having  passed   through  the  upper  coast,  came  to  Ephesus, 


80  THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES   OF  ASIA. 

and  he  found  there  certain  disciples  who  had  escaped  from  their 
own  country  and  fled  to  Ephesus.  We  read  in  verse  6,  that  they 
"  spake  with  tongues,  and  prophesied,  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
came  upon  them  by  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  Paul  j  and  all 
the  men  were  about  twelve."  We  next  find  (verse  8)  the  apostle 
going  into  the  synagogue  of  the  Jews — ^preaching  always  first  to 
the  Jews,  and  next  to  the  Gentiles — thus  setting  us  an  example 
of  missionary  order  and  action ;  the  Jew  first,  and  then  the  Gen- 
tile ;  and  I  believe  that  God  will  bless  that  order.  Let  the  one 
be  done,  and  let  not  the  other  be  left  undone. 

We  find  next  (verse  9)  that  the  only  chapel  which  the  apostle 
first  ofiiciated  in  at  Ephesus  was  a  school-master's  school :  "  He 
went  daily  and  disputed  in  the  school  of  one  Tyrannus" — a  portion 
of  apostolic  conduct  which  I  am  surprised  that  those  who  are  the 
uncompromising  advocates  of  what  is  called  apostolic  succession 
do  not  imitate.  The  apostles  preached  anywhere  and  everywhere ; 
the  great  question  with  them  was,  "  Are  there  ears  to  hear,  and 
hearts  to  be  converted  ?"  And  if  they  saw  that  there  were  both, 
there  they  preached  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ.  Sure  I 
am,  that  we  shall  not  reach  the  full  perfection  of  true  apostolic 
succession,  till  we  witness  bishops  and  archbishops  lending  new 
lustre  to  their  lawn,  and  new  dignity  to  their  position,  by  standing 
in  Smithfield,  or  Paul's  Cross,  Farringdon  Market,  and  Covent 
Garden,  and  preaching  as  good  Bishop  Latimer  and  Bi.shop  Ridley 
did,  and  a  greater  bishop  than  either,  St.  Paul  did;  and  a  greater 
than  all^ — the  Lord  of  glory  did — the  everlasting  gospel  of  the 
grace  of  Christ  to  all  that  will  wait  and  listen.  The  apostle,  it 
is  said,  "  disputed."  I  wish  you  to  notice  the  language  here, 
"  He  disputed  and  persuaded."  Many  persons  are  extremely  op- 
posed to  controversy.  If  by  controversy  you  understand  calling 
nicknames,  losing  one's  temper,  attributing  to  an  opponent  what 
he  repudiates  and  disclaims,  such  controversy  is  alike  unchristian 
and  worthless,  if  not  mischievous;  but  I  understand  by  contro- 
versy, speaking  the  truth,  but  speaking  it  in  love ;  strong  argu- 
ments couched  in  persuasive  and  afi"ectionate  terms.  Tender,  in 
our  address  to  the  man,  bold  and  unsparing  in  our  denunciation 
of  his  errors  ;  denouncing  the  deeds  of  the  Nicolaitanes,  and  yet 
loving,  and  trying  to  save  the  souls  of  the  Nicolaitanes — this  is 


THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS— HER  EXCELLENCY.    81 

controversy,  and  such  is  the  controversy  that  is  scriptural.  Cer- 
tain of  the  vagabond  Jews,  exorcists,  who  took  upon  themselves 
to  call  the  name  of  Jesus  over  evil  spirits — having  been  convinced 
of  their  error,  and  "  having  brought  their  books,  burned  them 
before  all  men;  and  they  counted  the  price  of  the  books,  and  found 
it  6fty  thousand  pieces  of  silver."  I  refer  to  this  text  because 
the  use  made  of  it  proves  that  popes  are  not  infallible  in  their  in- 
terpretation of  Scripture.  The  predecessor  of  the  present  pope 
was  Gregory  XVI.  This  Gregory  wrote  a  Latin  letter  to  all  the 
Roman  Catholic  bishops  of  Christendom :  in  this  letter  he  says 
that  when  the  apostle  Paul  preached  at  Ephesus,  the  magicians 
brought  their  books,  and  the  apostle  took  their  books  and  burned 
them ;  and  thus  he  proves  the  propriety  of  an  Index  Expurgato- 
rius,  i.  e.  a  list  drawn  up  by  the  popes  of  Home,  in  which  they 
blackball  every  book  that  does  not  please  them,  or  pick  out  certain 
sentences  which  they  denounce  as  heretical  in  books  which,  on 
the  whole,  they  approve.  It  has  occasionally  happened,  through 
the  blessing  of  God,  that  the  very  extracts  which  they  have  marked 
as  heretical,  and  put  in  the  Index,  have  caught  the  eyes  of  priests, 
and  been  blessed  to  the  enlightening  of  their  minds,  and  the  sav- 
ing of  their  souls.  Gregory  XVI.  then  brings  this  text  to  prove 
that  bishops  may  bum  books  they  disapprove,  or  put  them  in  the 
Index  :  but,  in  fact,  the  apostles  did  not  take  the  books  and  burn 
them ;  and  to  quote  the  apostles  as  doing  so,  is  to  misquote  Scrip- 
ture; for  it  is  plainly  said  that  he  magicians  themselves  brought 
the  books  and  burned  them.  If  popes  be  infallible  in  enunciating 
doctrine,  certainly  they  are  not  infallible  in  quoting  texts  to  prove 
it.  "  When  the  word  of  God  mightily  grew  and  prevailed,"  and 
afterward  one  Demetrius,  a  silversmith,  who  made  silver  shrines 
for  Diana,  saw  that  his  occupation  was  in  danger,  he  called  toge- 
ther the  workmen,  and  said,  "  Sirs,  ye  know  that  by  this  craft  we 
have  our  wealth,"  &c.,  addressing  them  in  the  most  plausible  and 
artful  manner.  Wherever  God  has  a  work,  Satan  always  gets  up 
a  counter-work  ;  wherever,  in  a  congregation,  God's  truth  is  pre- 
vailing, there  is  sure  to  spring  up  in  it  something  that  will  damage 
or  dilute  it.  You  never  hear  of  there  being  genuine  coin  circulat- 
ing in  the  realm,  without  forged  coin  instantly  following  it ;  and 
the  forged  coin  is  the  evidence  of  the  prior  existence  of  the  ge- 


82  THE  SEVEN  CHURCHES  OF  ASIA. 

nuine.  This  Demetrius  was  an  avaricious,  shrewd,  and  worldly 
silversmith.  He  gilded  over  his  avarice  with  religion,  aud  pre- 
tended to  be  zealous  for  the  faith,  while  he  was  enthusiastic  for 
the  filling  of  his  pocket :  he  was  one  of  those  men  who  make  god- 
liness to  be  gain,  and  with  words  the  most  plausible,  (for  no  man 
wants  eloquence  when  he  is  thoroughly  sincere  in  seeking  the 
object  which  he  pleads  for,) — I  would  say,  the  most  eloquent  lan- 
guage, for  it  was  admirably  adapted  to  the  craftsmen's  love  of 
money,  and  their  liking  for  superstition — ^he  told  them,  "You  see 
we  get  our  living  by  making  these  shrines" — that  was  the  ava- 
ricious appeal — "  and  in  the  next  place,  who  knows  not  that  the 
great  goddess  Diana  is  admired  all  over  the  world  ?  and  if  this 
Paul  is  suffered  to  go  on  preaching  this  new  doctrine,  her  worship 
will  be  neglected,  her  shrines  will  not  be  wanted,  and  our  trade 
will  be  ruined.  This  will  never  do ;  we  must  put  it  down  at  all 
hazards."     This  touched  their  superstition. 

This  explains  much  of  the  persecution  that  has  existed  in  the 
world.  A  man  who  loves  the  truth,  and  desires  only  its  spread, 
will  never  persecute,  either  to  maintain  or  promote  it ;  but  one 
who  has  some  selfish  and  sinister  end  to  advance — who  uses  re- 
/igion  merely  as  the  plausible  cover  under  which  he  hopes  to  pro- 
mote it  with  greater  success — is  always  ready,  if  needs  be,  to  per- 
secute, in  order  to  help  himself.  And  yet,  what  a  blunder  per- 
secution is !  It  failed  signally  at  Ephesus,  as  it  has  failed  every- 
where ;  for  we  read  that  the  result  of  the  conflict  was  the  esta- 
blishment of  a  church,  the  largest  of  the  seven,  and  the  utter  dis- 
comfiture of  Demetrius  and  his  craftsmen,  his  goddess,  and  all 
her  shrines.  Persecution  never  built  up  the  truth — it  never  pull- 
ed down  a  lie;  and  wherever  the  secular  arm  is  called  in,  in  order 
to  put  down  truth  or  to  build  up  a  lie,  it  fails  in  its  attempt,  and 
parts  with  its  strength.  All  the  the  legislation  in  the  world  can- 
not permanently  build  up  a  lie  :  all  the  inquisitors  in  the  world 
are  not  able  to  burn  out  God's  truth.  God  is  the  guardian  of  the 
truth ;  and  it  will  rise  from  its  sorest  struggles,  radiant  with  more 
terrible  beauty,  and  give  augury  of  surer  triumph. 

After  these  scenes  had  passed  away,  the  apostle  called  together 
(chap.  XX.)  the  elders  of  the  Ephesian  church;  for  at  verse  17  wo 
read,  "  And  from  Miletus  he  sent  to  Ephesus,  and  called  the 


THE  CUURCII  OF  EPHESUS— HER  EXCELLENCY.    83 

elders  of  the  church."  It  is  right  to  mention  that  the  word  elders 
is  the  translation  of  the  word  TrpspiSuzipou^,  the  presbyters  of  the 
church;  and  in  verse  28,  the  apostle  says  to  these  presbyters, 
"  Take  heed  to  yourselves,  and  to  the  flock  over  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  hath  made  you  overseers,"  (irirt-zwrroo?;)  that  is  the  only 
word  that  I  know  in  the  whole  of  our  admirable  translation  of  the 
Bible,  in  which  a  royal  hand  and  party  influence  is  understool  to 
be  traced.  James  VI.  oY  Scotland  was  on  the  Scottish  throne 
the  most  zealous  of  all  zealous  Presbyterians  ;  but  when  he  cross- 
ed the  Tweed,  like  many  of  his  countrymen  in  the  present  day, 
he  became  the  most  zealous  of  all  zealous  Episcopalians ;  so  still, 
ultra-Tractarians  are  generally  converts  from  Presbytery  or  In- 
dependency, or  the  sons  of  those  who  remain  so.  So  afraid  was 
James  lest  there  should  be  any  thing  against  the  favourite  policy 
of  his  adoption,  that  he  induced  the  translators,  it  is  said,  to  render 
the  word  iTttaxoTzot,  usually  translated  bishops,  into  "  overseers ;" 
because  he  felt  that  those  who  are  plainly  called  presbyters  in  one 
verse,  are  as  plainly  called  bishops  in  another  verse  ;  and  if  the 
words  were  exactly  and  literally  translated,  people  might  say, 
"  Bishops  and  presbyters  are  the  same  thing ;  and  bishops  should 
preach,  should  have  flocks  under  their  charge,  and  do  the  work 
of  ministers,"  and  thus  his  favourite  polity  might  sufier.  The 
word  was  therefore  rendered  "  overseer"  in  this  place,  while  it  is 
translated  bishop  in  every  other  part  of  the  New  Testament.  I 
only  wish  the  word  "  bishop"  had  not  been  retained  at  all,  and 
that  the  word  "overseer,"  or  "superintendent,"  had  been  used 
instead ;  it  would  more  directly  have  expressed  what  is  the  oflUce 
of  a  bishop — not  a  man  to  "  overlook"  his  work,  but  a  man  to 
"  oversee"  it ;  not  to  neglect  it,  but  to  superintend  it. 

Perhaps  this  shows  that  whoever  be  the  angel  of  the  church  at 
Ephesus,  he  was  not  a  bishop  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word, 
because  there  were  many  bishops,  with  many  flocks.  The  apostle 
says  so  :  "Whom  the  Holy  Grhost  hath  made  hishops"  or  over- 
seers ;  and  therefore  it  appears  to  me  that  the  angel  may  be  either 
the  representative  of  the  whole,  or  may  have  been  what  we  call 
the  moderator,  or  presiding  minister;  but  at  all  events  the  address 
is  plainly  not  to  the  minister,  as  such,  but  to  the  whole  Christian 
church,  properly  and  strictly  so  called.     It  has  been  said  by  an- 


84  THE   SEVEN   CHURCflES   OF   ASIA. 

cicnt  writers  that  Timothy  was  the  first  bishop  of  Ephesus,  and  they 
have  argued  from  these  words,  "  I  besought  thee  to  abide  still  at 
Ephesus,  when  I  went  into  Macedonia,  that  thou  mightest  charge 
some  that  they  teach  no  other  doctrine."  I,  for  one,  entertain 
no  objection  to  that  form  of  church  government.  I  believe  that 
the  earliest  form  of  ecclesiastical  polity  after  the  apostles'  days, 
was  a  very  modified  episcopacy;  but  such  an  episcopacy  as  we 
have  probably  no  specimen  of  now  among  the  churches.  To  give 
you  an  instance  of  an  ancient  bishop,  I  would  name  Cyprian,  Bi- 
shop of  Carthage.  When  you  hear  of  a  bishop  you  think  of  one 
who  has  ten  or  twenty  thousand  a  year,  living  in  great  splendour, 
with  two  or  three  hundred  presbyters  under  him,  and  a  seat  in  the 
legislature.  Cyprian  had  very  few  presbyters  under  him ;  his 
whole  diocese  was  within  four  walls  of  a  chapel  or  meeting-house ; 
and  these  few  presbyters  he  sent  abroad  to  preach  the  gospel  of 
Christ.  Such  an  episcopacy  is  extremely  beautiful ;  and  would, 
if  it  were  preserved,  be  eminently  efiective.  I  do  not  quarrel  with 
existing  developments,  or  the  munificent  support  of  modern  epis- 
copacy :  I  only  wish  to  show  that  the  earliest  form  of  ecclesiastical 
polity  was  something  like  what  Archbishop  Leighton  wished  to 
see — a  very  reduced  episcopacy,  and  so  like  presbytery  as  to  be 
scarcely  distinguishable  from  it.  The  angel  of  the  church  of 
Ephesus  is  thus  addressed  as  the  representative  of  the  whole  church, 
as  may  be  seen  from  the  body  of  the  epistle;  it  is  the  church  that 
Christ  rebukes,  and  exhorts,  through  him — "  I  know  thy  works, 
and  thy  labour,  and  thy  patience,  &c. ;  to  him  that  overcometh," 
(whosoever  he  be,)  "will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life;"  plainly 
implying  that  the  address  is  meant  for  the  laity,  not  for  the  cler- 
gy only. 

The  next  question  that  arises  is.  What  was  this  church  ?  Plainly 
it  was  not  a  company  exclusively  of  elect,  or  justified  persons:  this 
is  the  true,  the  inner,  the  spiritual  church ;  but  it  was,  I  appre- 
hend, a  mixed  body;  and  if  we  keep  the  distinction  betwen  these 
two  things  clearly  before  us,  we  shall  avoid  many  misapprehensions 
into  which  persons  fall :  it  is  baptism  that  constitutes  admission 
into  the  outward  and  visible  church — it  is  regeneration  that  con- 
stitutes admission  into  the  true  and  spiritual  church.  The  first  is 
made  up  of  the  whole  company  of  them  who  profess  the  gospel, 


'     THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS— HER  EXCELLENCY.    85 

represented  as  tares  and  wheat,  good  and  bad  fishes;  those  that 
are  Israelites  indeed,  and  those  that  are  Israelites  only  in  name ; 
those  that  are  chosen  in  Christ  before  the  foundation  of  the  world, 
that  they  should  be  holy,  and  without  blemish  before  him  in  love; 
and  those  who  profess,  but  feel  not  the  power  of  the  truth  :  so 
that  we  have  reason  to  believe,  from  the  parables  and  other  por- 
tions of  Scripture,  that  in  this  dispensation  there  will  be  no  such 
thing  as  a  perfectly  pure  communion-table,  church,  or  congregation, 
either  local  or  national,  or  catholic  and  universal.  In  speaking 
with  a  goldsmith  one  day,  he  showed  me  what  is  called  virgin  gold, 
and  said  it  is  utterly  worthless  in  one  sense,  while  it  is  most  pre- 
cious in  another ;  it  cannot  be  used  in  its  pure  state  for  manufac- 
ture— there  must  be  an  alloy  in  it  to  make  it  work ;  it  must  be 
eighteen  or  twenty  carats  fine,  it  cannot  be  twenty-four,  i.  e.  some 
sort  of  alloy  must  be  mixed  with  it.  Visible  churches,  like  or- 
dinary gold,  are  some  ten,  some  twelve,  some  eighteen  carats  fine; 
the  pure  church  is  the  pure  unalloyed  gold,  and  has  currency  only 
in  the  realms  of  glory :  in  this  world  the  church  has  an  alloy ; 
there  is  a  mixture  of  mere  professors  with  true  believers ;  nothing 
absolutely  pure  is  here,  and  I  believe,  so  impure  are  we,  and  we 
live  in  so  impure  a  world,  that  there  needs  to  be  a  mixture  in  order 
to  exist  at  all.  But  a  day  comes,  when  all  the  base  metal  shall 
be  destroyed,  and  the  pure  gold  shall  come  out  beautiful,  and  un- 
mixed, and  holy;  and  its  currency  shall  be  where  there  is  no  need 
nor  toleration  of  alloy — where  is  nothing  to  defile  or  destroy.  But 
this  church,  while  thus  a  mixed  body,  was  yet  perfectly  distinct 
from  the  world  :  it  had  its  own  place  of  meeting,  its  own  rites,  its 
own  laws,  its  preaching  of  the  gospel,  its  sacraments  of  baptism 
and  the  Lord's  supper,  and  several  outward  signs  and  forms  by 
which  its  numbers  were  known  to  the  world.  Our  Lord  left  the 
church  but  one  grand  characteristic  badge :  one  church  said  it 
should  be  a  tonsure  on  the  head;  another  church  said  it  should 
be  a  crucifix ;  another,  something  else  :  Christ  left  us  no  such 
badge ;  he  said  Christians  should  have  a  badge,  but  not  such  as 
these — "  By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if 
ye  have  love  one  to  another."  Reciprocal,  mutual  love,  is  the 
apostolic  characteristic  of  the  church  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
The  author  of  this  epistle  is  Christ  himself.     The  church  of 


86  THE   SEVEN  CHURCHES  OF  ASIA. 

Ephesus  is  the  party  addressed,  the  writer  of  the  letter  is  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  That  church  might  have  expected  a  missive 
of  judgment,  and  lo !  it  is  a  missive  of  mercy,  a  letter  of  love, 
the  autograph  of  her  Head,  her  Lord,  and  Saviour.  He  says  to 
John,  "  Write ;  be  my  amanuensis ;  mingle  with  it  no  sentiment 
of  your  own,  but  convey  my  words  as  they  fall  from  my  lips,  to 
the  church  at  Ephesus :"  tradition  might  be  distorted ;  oral  com- 
munications might  be  mistaken ;  but  this  is  a  letter  to  be  read  in 
the  light  of  the  nineteenth,  as  well  as  to  be  studied  amid  the 
persecutions  of  the  first  century. 

He  pronounces  first  a  panegyric  upon  what  was  good  in  this 
church :  he  says,  "  I  know  thy  works."  Christ  is  God  :  omni- 
science is  his  glorious  prerogative  and  attribute :  he  only  can  say, 
"I  know  thy  works;" — "he  had  eyes  like  a  flame  of  fire."  He 
did  not  need  that  any  man  should  tell  him  what  was  in  man ; 
"  his  eyes  behold  the  works,  his  eyelids  try  the  thoughts  of  the 
children  of  men ;"  "  all  things  are  naked  and  open  to  the  eyes 
of  Him  with  whom  we  have  to  do."  Only  think,  that  there  is  not 
one  beating  heart  in  this  assembly,  upon  which  the  eye  of  Christ 
is  not  as  distinctly  riveted,  as  if  that  heart  were  the  only  one  in 
the  whole  universe  of  God.  In  other  words,  each  individual  in 
this  assembly  may  say  at  this  moment,  "  There  is  not  a  thought 
in  my  heart,  but,  lo  !  0  Lord,  thou  knowest  it  altogether."  What 
is  the  thought  that  is  now  uppermost  ?  I  doubt  not  many  a  one 
is  feeling  at  this  moment  that,  while  I  am  speaking,  his  thoughts 
are  wandering  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Some  have  their  bodies 
here,  and  their  hearts  in  their  counting-house ;  others,  looking  to 
me,  and  listening  to  my  words,  have  their  fancies  roaming  here, 
there,  and  everywhere ;  some  thinking  so  little  about  the  purpose 
for  which  they  have  come  here,  that  they  are  now  wondering,  and 
calculating,  while  I  speak,  whether  they  shall  obtain  that  little 
payment  to-morrow,  or  get  through  that  little  difl&culty  next  year. 
What  a  pity  that  it  is  so  !  not  only  what  a  sin,  but  what  a  pity 
that  it  is  so !  My  dear  friends,  you  ought  to  determine  that 
nothing  that  belongs  to  the  counting-house,  the  trade,  the 
business,  the  profession,  shall  trespass  on  this  holy  day,  to  disturb 
its  quiet,  or  to  mar  your  communion  with  God.  Get  into  the 
holy  habit  of  sequestering  Sabbath  from  the  rest  of  the  days,  and 


THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS— HER  EXCELLENCY.    87 

you  will  soon  find  that  the  habit  will  become,  by  the  blessing  of 
God,  like  a  second  nature.  Let  us  ever  recollect  this  solemn 
truth,  that  Christ's  eye  is  upon  each  one  of  us.  There  is  no  such 
thing  as  a  divine  "  absenteeism ;"  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a 
suspension,  even  for  a  moment,  of  the  penetrating  and  piercing 
omniscience  of  God.  That  deed  that  you  did  in  secret  sounds 
like  the  seven  thunders  in  God's  ear ;  that  thought  which  flashed 
through  your  soul  with  the  speed  of  the  lightning's  wing,  left  its 
shadow  before  God,  and  in  his  records  it  is  written  what  it  was,  and 
what  its  character  is.  But,  blessed  be  his  name,  his  omniscience 
does  not  occupy  itself  with  looking  only  at  our  sins,  but  it  delights 
also  to  take  cognizance  of  our  virtues  which  he  himself  has 
created.  That  prayer  that  is  scarcely  expressed  by  the  lips,  but 
that  leaps  secretly  from  the  heart,  Christ  hears.  That  sympathy 
within,  for  which  you  have  no  expression  without,  Christ  sees. 
That  pity  which  you  felt  for  a  poor  one  whom  you  could  not  help, 
Christ  has  noted  as  true  charity.  That  mite  which  you  cast  into 
the  treasury  with  your  left  hand,  your  right  hand  scarcely  know- 
ing what  your  left  hand  did,  Christ  has  seen.  There  is  not  a 
silent  tear  that  is  shed  over  sin  and  sorrow,  nor  a  secret  thought 
or  prayer  that  is  breathed  for  its  extinction,  that  does  not  rise 
with  greater  speed  than  an  angel's  wing,  and  soar  higher  than  an 
archangel's  flight,  and  reach  the  bosom,  and  lie  recorded  by  the 
hand  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Blessed  be  his  name !  when  he 
sees  what  is  sin  in  his  people,  he  notes  it  to  forgive  it ;  when  he 
detects  what  is  excellence,  he  notes  it  to  record,  to  canonize,  and 
to  remember  it.  "  Then  they  that  feared  the  Lord  spake  often 
one  to  another :  and  the  Lord  hearkened,  and  heard  it,  and  a  book 
of  remembrance  was  written  before  him  for  them  that  feared  the 
Lord,  and  that  thought  upon  his  name.  And  they  shall  be  mine, 
saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  in  that  day  when  I  make  up  my  jewels; 
and  I  will  spare  them,  as  a  man  spareth  his  own  son  that  serveth 
him."  How  beautiful  is  this !  Believer,  how  consolatory  is  this ! 
the  act  that  the  world  misconstrues,  the  word  that  the  world  mis- 
represents, you  have  a  judge  that  sees  actually  as  it  is.  Hopes  too 
bright  for  this  world,  and  sympathies  with  what  is  too  lofty  or  too 
pure  for  the  crowd  to  comprehend,  Christ  sees.  What  the  world 
denounces  as  your  sin,  Christ  records,  it  may  be,  as  your  excel- 


88  THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES   OF   ASIA. 

lence :  there  is  not  a  holy  thought  that  is  cherished,  or  a  cup  of 
cold  water  that  is  given  in  his  name,  which  he  does  not  appreciate. 
Child  of  God !  "  I  know  thy  works ;"  I  know  the  difficulties  with 
which  you  have  to  contend,  I  know  the  obstructions  which  you 
have  to  overcome ;  I  know  the  motives  from  which  they  spring, 
I  know  the  end  for  which  you  do  them ;  and  if  the  world's  eulo- 
gium  shall  not  be  pronounced  upon  you,  you  have  an  eulogium  in 
reversion,  that  will  be  music  indeed,  when  the  world's  shout  will 
be  silent  forever.  If  this  be  true  of  their  deeds,  it  is  true  of  be- 
lievers themselves.  Wherever  there  is  a  child  of  God,  there  rests 
upon  him  the  eye  of  his  blessed  Lord.  Let  him  be  in  the  deepest 
coal-pit  of  Northumberland,  or  upon  the  loftiest  crag  of  the  Py- 
renees— in  some  subterranean  crypt  or  secret  catacomb — in  the 
region  where  the  sun  never  shines,  or  in  some  desert  scorched  by 
his  burning  rays — let  him  be  shut  up  in  the  cells  of  the  Infjuisi- 
tion,  or,  like  the  Waldenses  of  old,  amid  the  ravines  of  the  Cottian 
Alps — wheresoever  the  sword  of  persecution  may  drive  him,  or 
the  wave  of  prosperity  may  lift  him,  the  believer  is  seen,  and 
overshadowed,  and  protected  by  his  Lord,  and  kept  as  carefully  as 
if  he  were  the  only  jewel  in  the  universe,  and  his  Master's  name 
impressed  and  engraven  upon  it.  "  Happy  are  the  people  that 
are  in  such  a  case  !  happy  is  that  man  whose  God  is  the  Lord  !" 
But  let  us  inquire  if  this  be  our  privilege — if  this  inspection  be 
our  joy — if  it  be  true  that  Christ  knows  our  thoughts,  our  feelings, 
our  works — what  are  those  works  of  ours  that  he  knows  ?  You 
complain,  that  I  so  often  ask  you  to  give,  and  to  give  so  much, 
and  so  often,  for  various  objects;  just  ask  yourself  what  you  have 
given  and  done  for  Christ — what  your  works  are  !  If  Christ  be 
looking  on,  if  he  see  and  record  all  you  have  spent  in  follies,  in 
luxuries,  in  amusements,  and  all  you  have  done  for  the  spread  of 
the  gospel,  how  will  it  stand  ?  I  believe  that  the  time  shortens, 
and  the  shadows  of  approaching  night,  when  no  man  can  work, 
come  and  creep  over  the  world,  and  indicate  that  the  sun  is  setting, 
but  setting  only  to  rise  again  in  greater,  even  in  noon-day  splendour; 
therefore,  I  believe  that  now  or  never  is  the  time  for  missionary 
eflfort.  We  ask  you,  then,  in  assisting  missionary  effort,  to  give 
not  only  your  superfluities,  which  is  all  you  have  given  hitherto, 
but  to  make  sacrifices ;  what  you  have  yet  done  for  the  caus«  of 


THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS— HER  EXCELLENCY.         89 

Christ  has  been  the  frieze,  the  ornament  of  your  life,  not  the 
pillar,  the  capital  of  it.  Never  was  there  a  time  when  the  whole 
world  was  so  open  to  missionary  effort  as  at  this  day ;  and  never 
was  the  time  so  near  realization  when  this  gospel  of  the  kingdom 
shall  be  preached  to  every  nation,  and  then  shall  the  end  come. 
France  and  Spain  are  both  at  this  moment  open  to  our  Bibles — 
Greece  and  Turkey  are  at  length  accessible  to  our  missionaries. 
It  has  ceased  to  be  a  crime  for  a  perverted  Christian  to  come  back 
to  Christianity ;  it  has  ceased  in  Turkey  to  be  an  offence  to  preach 
the  gospel  to  Mohammedans.  I  told  you  on  a  previous  evening  that 
the  sultan  has  so  completely  relaxed  his  laws,  that  he  has  given 
permission  to  the  Jews  to  raise  a  temple  in  the  midst  of  Jerusa- 
lem, and  they  are  now  collecting  funds  to  build  one,  which  they 
say  shall  eclipse  the  first  and  second,  both  in  glory  and  magnifi- 
cence. At  this  moment  Asia,  and  Assyria,  and  India  beyond  the 
Indus,  farther  than  the  Macedonian  phalanxes  of  Alexander  ever 
penetrated,  are  inviting  us.  The  mountains  of  India  may  be 
trodden  by  missionaries'  feet;  China  has  cast  down  her  fortresses; 
Egypt  and  Abyssinia  have  opened  their  gates ;  there  is  not  a  spot  in 
the  wide  world  where  the  missionaries  of  the  gospel  may  not  preach; 
from  every  spot  there  comes,  heard  by  the  car  of  God,  and  by  the  ear 
of  the  true  Christian,  the  piercing  cry,  "  Come  over  and  help  us;" 
the  great  sea  is  coming  on,  to  cover  all  with  its  waves — take  the 
opportunity  of  beneficence  while  you  can,  before  you  are  over- 
whelmed ;  the  night  is  at  hand — work  while  it  is  called  to-day ; 
the  candle  is  nearly  burned  to  the  socket — make  use  of  the  little 
light  that  remains ;  the  shades  of  evening  are  gathering  round  us 
— ply  the  work  of  the  gospel  ere  the  sun  sets,  and  there  be  no 
more  opportunity  for  action. 

But  our  blessed  Lord  says,  "  I  know,"  not  only  "  thy  works," 
but  "thy  labour."  It  seems  to  me  that  "labour"  specially  refers 
to  the  minister,  "  works"  to  the  people,  because  it  is  the  very 
word  applied  by  Paul  to  ministers :  "  Know  those  that  labour 
among  you,  and  are  over  you,"  those  that  labour  in  the  word  and 
doclrine ;"  and  if  this  refer  to  ministers  of  the  gospel,  what  does 
it  teach  us  ?  that  the  ministry  of  the  gospel  is  not  non-resident, 
but  that  it  is  what  the  apostle  has  here  called  a  "labour."  If  any 
pride  themselves  on  having  apostolic  succession,  let  them  see  to 

8* 


90  THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES  OF   ASIA. 

it  that  they  have  also  apostolic  doctrine,  and  apostolic  labour. 
Here  are  the  labours  of  an  apostle  :  "  Thrice  was  I  beaten  with 
rods,  once  was  I  stoned,  thrice  I  suiFered  shipwreck,  a  night  and 
a  day  I  have  been  in  the  deep;  in  journeyings  often,  in  perils  of 
waters,  in  perils  of  robbers,  in  perils  by  mine  own  countrymen,  in 
perils  by  the  heathen,  in  perils  in  the  city,  in  perils  in  the  wilder- 
ness, in  perils  in  the  sea,  in  perils  among  false  brethren ;  in  wea- 
riness and  painfulness,  in  watchings  often,  in  hunger  and  thirst, 
in  fastings  often,  in  cold  and  nakedness."  Apostolic  light,  and 
apostolic  love,  are  the  things  we  should  transfer  to  ourselves,  and 
by  the  grace  of  God  imitate  and  copy. 

But  the  great  Head  of  the  church  adds,  "I  know,  not  only  thy 
works,  and  thy  labour,  but  I  know  also  thy  patience."  Patience 
is  a  virtue  which,  in  the  present  day,  we  have  much  need  of. 
"Wait  patiently  for  God."  Impatience  is  one  of  the  characteris- 
tics of  the  day :  it  shows  itself  in  prayerlessness ;  in  feelings  pre- 
judicial to  ourselves,  and  not  beneficial  to  others :  in  a  constant 
fear  that  every  thing  will  go  to  wreck  if  we  do  not  interpose ;  in 
a  strong  selfish  feeling,  that  if  we  do  not  put  in  our  hand,  and  bear 
our  part,  God  will  not  be  served,  and  his  cause  will  not  be  sus- 
tained. Our  Lord  saw  all  that  was  coming  on  the  earth,  and  yet 
what  perfect  self-possession  I  what  quiet !  what  complete  patience  ! 
Let  us  imitate  his  example.  "Fret  not  thyself  because  of  evil 
doers.     Rest  in  the  Lord,  and  wait  patiently  for  him." 

And  in  order  to  exhibit  and  display  this,  realize,  if  you  can, 
two  or  three  things.  He  that  is  impatient  with  events  which  man 
cannot  reverse  is  impatient  with  God ;  he  that  quarrels  with  things 
as  they  are,  quarrels,  as  it  were,  with  God.  God  is  in  all,  over- 
ruling what  is  evil,  sanctifying  what  is  true.  Let  us  stand  to  our 
post,  and  wait  patiently  till  he  come  and  relieve:  thus  we  read  in 
Scripture  of  the  "  patience  of  the  saints."  Yet  patience  does  not 
imply  indolence,  for  it  says,  "thy  labour  and  thy  patience."  Js 
it  not  the  fact  that  the  man  who  is  most  self-possessed  is  just  the 
man  who  is  capable  of  the  mightiest  enterprise  ?  How  strong  an 
illustration  of  this  in  the  natural  world  was  Columbus  !  When 
all  scientific  men  were  laughing  at  him,  and  declaring  there  was 
no  such  western  continent  as  he  supposed,  Columbus  never  lost 
his  temper,  nor  his  energy  and  patience,  and  his  persistency  was 


THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS— HER  EXCELLENCY.    91 

crowned  with  success.  Take  an  instance  from  Scripture.  What 
quietness  of  spirit,  what  endurance,  what  strength  of  character, 
what  energy  of  action  do  we  find  in  Joshua  !  It  is  the  men  who 
are  always  impatient,  always  in  a  hurry,  who  do  nothing ;  it  is 
the  men  that  are  quiet  and  self-possessed  that  rest  and  repose  upon 
the  Rock  of  ages,  that  are  capable  of  the  greatest  feats,  and  are 
characterized  by  the  most  glorious  triumphs. 

But  there  are  three  practical  or  historical  illustrations  and  evi- 
dences given  of  this  church's  labour  and  patience  :  "  thou  hast 
borne,  and  hast  patience,  and  for  my  name's  sake  hast  laboured." 
The  first  characteristic  of  these  works  is,  that  this  church  had  tried 
them  which  say  they  are  apostles.  We  learn  that  even  in  the 
apostles'  days  there  were  false  apostles,  false  brethren,  deceitful 
workers ;  and  if,  in  the  sunshine  of  the  apostles'  days,  there  were 
bad  men  and  false  apostles,  are  we  to  be  surprised  that  there  are 
such  in  the  present  day  ?  As  I  have  already  said,  if  there  were 
no  false  and  bad  ministers,  it  would  be  to  me  a  proof  that  the  Bible 
was  not  true ;  and  when,  therefore,  you  hear  any  persons  quoting 
bad  ministers,  as  some  are  very  apt  to  do  when  they  want  to  get 
rid  of  Christianity,  as  a  reason  for  rejecting  the  Bible,  tell  him 
that  the  reason  which  he  urges  for  rejecting  the  gospel  is  just  one 
of  the  reasons  why  you  accept  it.  The  Scripture  says  that  such 
ministers  should  creep  into  the  church ;  and  were  such  wanting, 
it  would  be  evidence  that  the  Bible  is  not  true.  There  ought  to 
be  discipline  in  every  church.  I  think  it  is  wrong  that  a  person 
whose  conduct  is  openly  profane,  whose  life  is  bad,  whose  character 
is  equivocal,  and  who  has  not  repented  of  his  sins,  should  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  communion-table.  That  is  the  reason  why  in  the 
Scottish  church  there  are  tokens  distributed  to  each,  that  at  every 
communion-table  each  person  may  come  to  the  minister  and  elders, 
and  receive  a  token  that,  as  far  as  they  can  judge,  his  life  is  con- 
sistent, his  doctrine  pure,  his  walk  becoming  a  believer.  But  how 
did  they  try  them  ?  I  doubt  whether  it  was  by  an  ecclesiastical 
court ;  I  believe  the  trial  was  mainly  by  the  word  of  God.  And 
this  trial  is  exactly  what  the  apostle  speaks  of  when  he  says, 
"Try  the  spirits,  whether  they  be  of  God;"  and  again,  when  Paul 
says,  "  Though  we,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  preach  any  other 
gospel  unto  you,  let  him  be  anathema,"  t.  e.  separate  him  from 


92  THE   SEVEN   CHURCHES   OF   ASIA. 

you — have  nothing  to  do  with  him.  And  this  shows  us  that  a 
Christian  people  may  read  the  Bible ;  that  they  may  understand 
the  Bible ;  and  that  they  are  good  judges  whether  it  be  bread  or 
poison  with  which  the  minister  feeds  them. 

I  have  received  a  note,  complaining  of  a  remark  which  I  made 
on  this  passage.  It  is  said,  "  Why,  according  to  you,  you  en- 
courage the  people  to  sit  as  critics  upon  what  you  say;"  and  in 
this  note  the  text  is  cited,  "  Receive  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word ;" 
and  the  inference  is  added,  that  you  ought  therefore  to  receive 
what  the  minister  says,  and  not  judge  at  all.  But  does  not  the 
verse  show  that  if  it  be  any  thing  but  milk,  you  are  not  to  take  it. 
I  have  no  fear  that  there  will  be  too  much  of  this ;  my  fear  is 
rather  lest  you  should  be  too  dead,  too  apathetic,  too  indolent.  I 
rejoice  to  stir  up  opposition — it  is  the  best  thing  in  the  world. 
Better  have  men  disputing  with  you,  and  controverting  what  you 
say,  than  seated  like  stones  or  pieces  of  clay,  coming  to  God's 
house  as  a  form,  and  leaving  it  just  as  they  entered  it,  with  in- 
creased responsibilities,  but  no  blessing.  "  Thou  hast  tried  them 
which  say  they  are  apostles,  and  hast  rejected  them."  No  official 
rank,  no  intellectual  power,  must  be  taken  as  a  substitute  for  the 
gospel.  The  instance  of  the  patience  of  the  church  is,  "  Thou 
hast  borne  reproach,  opposition,  calumny,  conflict  of  every  sort, 
and  had  patience ;''  and  then  it  is  added  also,  "thou  hast  laboured 
for  my  name's  sake,  and  hast  not  fainted."  Mark  the  purity  of 
these  labours.  Thou  hast  laboured,  not  for  popular  6dat,  not  for 
money,  not  to  prop  up  an  old  sect  or  pull  down  a  new  one,  not  to 
strengthen  one  party  or  weaken  another,  but  "  for  my  name's 
sake,"  in  obedience  to  my  will,  and  for  my  glory.  Whether  ye 
eat  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  ye  have  done  all  for  my  glory, 
leaning  on  my  intercession,  strengthened  with  my  might,  out  of 
love  to  me,  in  testimony  of  your  attachment  to  me;  thus  you  have 
laboured  for  my  name's  sake. 

Let  us  next  notice  the  persistency  of  this  labour :  ''  Thou  hast 
laboured,  and  luxst  not  fainted."  A  great  fault  of  modern  labour 
is,  that  it  begins  with  the  blaze  of  a  rocket,  and  is  extinguished 
with  its  speed  also;  it  is  a  rare  thing  to  find  in  the  church  a  man 
who  will  begin  a  good  work,  and  will  quietly  cleave  and  adhere 
to  what  he  has  begun.     I  think  we  Scottish  Christians  excel  iu 


THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS— HER  EXCELLENCY.    93 

that  point  our  English  and  Irish  brethren.  The  Irish  are  the 
most  ignitable,  the  English  the  most  matter-of-fact,  the  Scotch 
the  most  logical  and  persistent.  When  I  said  I  wanted  money  for 
pur  schools,  the  first  five-pound  note  I  received  was  from  an  Irish 
Christian ;  his  heart  leaped  to  its  right  place,  as  an  Irishman's 
always  does,  when  a  right  appeal  on  right  grounds  is  made  to  it. 
The  gospel  seems  to  require  greater  force  and  energy  in  order 
to  reach  a  Scotchman's  heart ;  but  when  it  is  reached,  touched, 
and  transformed,  it  abides  steadfast  as  the  needle  to  the  pole, 
and  is  the  most  persistent — "  labouring  and  fainting  not."  It. 
was  thus  that  the  apostles  triumphed;  they  laboured  and  fainted 
not.  It  was  thus  that  the  Reformers  triumphed ;  they  laboured 
and  fainted  not.  It  was  thus  that  Whitfield,  and  Wesley,  and 
Oberlin,  and  Boos,  and  Elliott,  and  Williams,  and  others,  of  whom 
the  world  was  not  worthy,  laboured  and  fainted  not. 

Such  is  Christ's  eulogium  on  this  church :  such  were  its  works, 
its  labour,  its  patience,  its  excellence.  Were  the  Lord  of  the 
church  to  visit  us  now,  could  he  say  to  us,  "  Ye  have  done  what 
ye  could  T'  I  fear  not.  Much  we  have  done,  perhaps,  but  not 
yet  what  we  ought.  Learn  to  make  sacrifices ;  learn  to  be  charac- 
terized by  such  virtues  as  will  show  that  the  gospel  has  made  you 
to  differ  from  others;  to  be  distinguished  by  the  excellencies  of  the 
Ephesian  church,  without  its  faults.  And  if  there  be  fair  and 
precious  fruit  in  the  midst  of  us,  Christ's  breath  has  given  it  all 
its  fragrance — Christ's  smile  has  given  it  all  its  beauty.  If  we 
have  done  aught  that  is  good — ^if  we  have  made  great  sacrifices — 
if  we  have  laboured  and  have  not  fainted — "  not  unto  us,  O  Lord, 
but  to  thy  name  be  the  praise  and  glory."  Our  sins  should  hum- 
ble us,  for  they  are  our  own ;  and  our  virtues  should  humble  us, 
for  they  are  not  our  own.  Our  sins  should  bring  us  to  God,  that 
they  may  be  forgiven ;  our  virtues  should  bring  us  to  God,  that 
he  may  be  glorified. 


V 


%  •* 


LECTURE  VI. 


PIRST  LOVE  LOST. 


"Nevertheless  I  have  somovbat  against  thee,  because  thou  hast  left  thy  first 
love." — Rev.  ii.  4. 

Every  verdict  pronounced  on  the  Ephesian  church  previous 
to  the  fourth  verse  of  this  chapter,  has  been  almost  unniingled 
encomium.  "  I  know," — i.  e.  I  fully  appreciate — "  thy  works, 
thy  labours,  thy  patience ;  I  appreciate,  too,  your  sympathy  with 
truth,  your  hatred  of  error  j  how  thou  canst  not  bear  them  which 
are  evil : — I  fully  appreciate  your  desire  for  a  pure,  evangelical, 
apostolic  ministry  —  thou  hast  tried  them  which  say  they  are 
apostles,  and  hast  found  them  liars :  I  know  quite  well  how  thou 
hast  borne  reproach  for  my  sake ;  how  thou  hast  despised  the 
sneer  on  the  one  side,  the  scoff  on  the  other,  and  the  laugh  from 
behind,  and  the  reproach  from  before.  I  know,  too,  thy  patience, 
how  much  thou  hast  patiently  endured,  and  I  know  the  purity 
of  it  all — it  has  been  for  my  name's  sake ;  and  I  know  the  per- 
severance that  has  characterised  it  all — thou  hast  laboured,  and 
hast  not  fainted."  But  after  this  beautiful  encomium  pronounced 
upon  the  Ephesian  church — pronounced  by  Him  who  knew  the 
inmost  motives  of  the  heart,  as  well  as  knew  the  external  com- 
portment of  every  ofl5cer  and  person — he  is  constrained  to  say  he 
has  somewhat  against  her;  but  how  kind — if  I  might,  without 
irreverence,  use  the  expression — how  courteous,  the  rebuke  that 
is  here  appended  !  "  Notwithstanding" — I  wish  it  were  not  so — 
I  wish  that  faithfulness  would  suffer  me  to  be  silent — I  wish  that 
I  could  pass  by  without  noticing  the  flaw  by  which  all  is  injured, 
marred,  and  will  be,  if  not  corrected,  ruined ;  but  I  cannot — I 
have  somewhat  against  thee ;  and  here  it  is — painful  it  is  to  pro- 
nounce it,  but  truth  requires  it,  love  necessitates  it, — "  thou  hast 

94 


FIRST  LOVE  LOST.  .  95 

left  thy  first  love :"  the-  beautiful  morning  of  the  Ephesian 
Church,  that  rose  in  splendour  and  in  glory,  rich  with  brilliant 
promise,  was  overclouded  before  noon ;  the  gold,  so  pure,  became 
alloyed — the  fine  gold  became  changed — the  wine  was  mixed  with 
water;  and  for  glory,  there  must  be  inscribed  on  many  of  its 
works  that  seemed  most  beautiful  to  the  eye,  and  most  promising 
to  him  who  knew  not  the  source  from  which  they  came,  "  Icha- 
bod,  Ichabod,  the  glory  is  departed."  Strange  it  is  that  there 
should  be  so  much  to  applaud,  and,  so  soon  after,  so  much  to  cen- 
sure and  to  condemn.  Yet,  is  not  this  one  of  the  evidences  that 
this  epistle  came  from  the  same  source  from  which  all  the  epistles 
in  the  New  Testament  came  ?  There  is  scarcely  an  apostolic 
Church  that  .did  not  begin,  soon  after  it  was  founded,  to  err  and 
wander  from  the  truth.  The  Corinthian  Church  was  no  sooner 
established  by  apostolic  preaching,  and  built  up  by  apostolic 
hands,  than  its  members  learned  to  say,  one,  I  am  of  Paul ;  and 
another,  I  am  of  Cephas;  and  I  of  Apollos;  and  I  of  Christ. 
"  Are  ye  not,"  said  the  Apostle,  "  carnal  ?"  And  again,  scarcely 
had  the  Apostle  left  the  Galatians  than  they  began  to  swerve, 
even  from  the  foundation  itself,  justification  by  faith  in  the  right- 
eousnes  of  Christ ;  and  the  Thessalonians  were  no  sooner  left  than 
they  introduced  strange  and  extravagant  views  of  prophecy,  sup- 
posing Christ  to  be  actually  present  in  the  midst  of  them,  and 
believing  in  "  Lo  here,  and  lo  there,"  instead  of  patiently  waiting 
for  the  coming  of  the  Lord.  Now  what  does  this  teach  us? 
That  if  divisions  existed  in  the  apostolic  Church,  then  divisions 
existing  in  the  Protestant  Churches  now  do  not  prove  that  these 
Churches  have  ceased  to  be  true  ones.  Our  divisions  may  dis- 
grace us,  but,  blessed  be  God,  they  do  not  unchurch  us.  The 
Corinthians,  the  Galatians,  and  the  Thessalonians,  had  divisions, 
but  these  did  not  invalidate  their  claim  to  be  true  Churches ;  and 
therefore  it  cannot  be  justly  laid  to  our  charge  that  because  we 
are  divided  in  discipline  we  are  therefore  separated  from  Christ, 
and  because  we  do  not  see  eye  to  eye  in  things  non-essential,  we 
do  not  see  eye  to  eye  in  things  essential,  eternal,  vital.  But  let 
me  notice,  that  not  only  did  divisions  take  place  among  apostolio 
Churches,  but — no  less  strange,  perhaps — no  sooner  was  the  last 
of  the  Apostles  removed — his  spirit  to  the  white-robed  throng, 


96  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

his  body  to  the  dust,  in  patient  hope  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead — than  divisions  sprung  up  in  every  part  of  the  Christian 
world,  among  the  Christian  Churches.  You  are  told  by  certain 
divines  that  the  Nicene  Church,  i.  e.  the  Church  of  the  first  300 
years  before  the  Council  of  Nice,  is  the  grand  model  of  a  Chris- 
tian Church.  Blessed  be  God  that  we  have  no  such  reverence 
for  any  such  model.  Augustine,  the  most  evangelical  and  excel- 
lent of  all  the  Fathers,  states  that  before  his  day  there  were  no 
less  than  eighty-eight  sects  into  which  the  whole  Christian  Church 
was  divided.  Now  we  have  not  eighty-eight  sects  in  the  present 
day :  we  have  many,  perhaps  too  many,  at  least  our  enemies  say 
80,  but  certainly  not  eighty-eight ;  and  if  the  names  of  some  of 
our  sects  are  pronounced  strange  and  uncouth  by  those  who  hate 
Protestant  Christianity,  surely  some  of  the  names  of  the  early 
sects  are  not  less  so ',  there  were  the  Patripassions,  the  Sabella- 
rians,  the  Pelagians,  the  Marcionites,  names  at  least  as  uncouth 
as  Independents,  Presbyterians,  Episcopalians.  But  is  it  true 
that  there  is  a  Church  upon  earth  without  divisions  ?  The  Church 
that  has  most  divisions,  is  the  Church  that  is  beginning,  probably, 
to  be  most  alive :  the  Church  where  there  are  fewest  divisions 
may  not  be  the  Church  that  approximates  most  closely  to  millen- 
nial purity,  but  a  Church  that  has  the  peace  of  the  grave  and  its 
corruption  too.  But  even  in  that  communion  which  glories  so 
much  in  her  unity  there  are  divisions :  there  are  divisions  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Roman  Church.  You  arc  told,  and  told  repeatedly 
by  the  advocates  of  that  Church,  "Here  all  is  peace;"  and  the 
moment  that  you  leave  the  jarring  and  conflicting  sects  of  Pro- 
testantism, and  come  into  what  they  call  the  Catholic,  what  we 
call  the  Romish  Church,  there  all  is  peace.  Have  you  not  read 
of  Dominicans,  Franciscans,  Cistercians,  Benedictines,  Jesuits? 
what  are  these  but  denominations  and  conflicting  divisions  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  ?  And  therefore  instead  of  it  being 
true  that  we  have  divisions,  and  that  they  have  none,  we  may 
fairly  say  that  they  have  divisions  more  numerous  than  we  have ; 
and  divisions,  let  me  say,  upon  far  more  vital  points,  only  that  we 
have  the  liberty — and  avail  ourselves  of  it — of  each  man  wor- 
shipping under  his  own  vine  and  his  own  fig-tree;  in  other  words, 
accepting  the  form  and  polity  which  he  prefers ;  while  in  that 


FIRST  LOVE  LOST.  97 

Church,  however  they  may  quarrel,  they  are  all  kept  together  by 
a  force  and  pressure  ah  extra,  being  t)Ound  together  by  certain 
well-known  and  irresistible  restraints.  If  we  refer  to  another  party, 
Roman  Catholic  in  principle,  but  not  in  name — ^the  Tractarians 
— they  are  divided  into  three  sects  already — the  Newmanites, 
who  hold  that  the  true  faith  is  the  development  of  seeds  sown  in 
the  Apostles'  days,  that  have  shot  up  into  a  glorious  tree,  in  the 
days  of  the  Council  of  Trent :  and  next  the  Wardites,  who  have 
formed  an  imaginary,  theoretical,  transcendental  Church,  to  which 
they  say  all  others  must  be  conformed  :  and  lastly  there  are  the 
Puseyites,  who  say  that  the  Nicene  Church  is  the  great  model  of 
a  Christian  Church,  and  that  perfection  consists  in  the  nearest 
approximation  to  it. 

Thus,  then,  I  have  shown  that  there  were  divisions  in  the 
apostolic  Churches,  divisions  in  the  Nicene  Church,  divisions  in 
the  Romish  Church,  and  that  there  are  divisions  among  those 
who  have  made  divisions  in  order  to  escape  division ;  and  so  that 
those  who  profess  to  do  what  is  not  to  be  done  till  the  Lord  of 
the  harvest  comes  and  does  it  for  himself,  namely,  to  separate  the 
wheat  from  the  tares  in  the  visible  Church,  have  only  added  to 
divisions  and  splits  already  existing.  The  Lord  has  somewhat 
against  the  best  Church  upon  earth ;  thei'e  is  no  such  thing  as  a 
pure  visible  Church,  and  such  will  not  be  till  the  millennium. 
Christ's  Church  has  its  members  in  every  section  of  the  visible 
Church ; — a  holy  and  unalloyed  communion  will  be,  for  it  is  the 
grand  hope  of  the  Church,  but  it  will  not  yet  be.  Our  Lord 
may  say  of  every  Church — the  best,  the  purest,  the  most  apos- 
tolic, the  most  evangelical — "I  have  somewhat  against  thee;" 
and  the  most  serious  element  in  that  somewhat  he  expresses  in 
the  text  I  have  read — "thou  hast  left  thy  first  love." 

It  is  very  remarkable,  that  whilst  this  Church  was  abounding 
in  all  outward  efforts  to  extend  and  promote  the  Gospel,  she 
should  still  be  in  a  dying  state  in  reference  to  that  which  was  the 
spring  of  all  Christian  love.  She  had  tried  them  which  said  they 
were  apostles;  she  had  laboured,  she  had  borne,  she  had  had 
patience,  she  had  not  fainted — but  while  all  this  was  going  on, 
her  love  was  dying.  The  machinery  moved  under  the  influence 
of  the  original  impulse,  but  the  great  moving  power  within  was 


98  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

losing  its  force  every  moment.  The  bark  of  tlic  tree  stood  fair 
and  beautiful  to  the  eye,  but  the  pith  was  mouldering,  the  life 
was  nearly  gone — the  works  were  going  on  as  before,  donations 
and  subscriptions  given,  prayers  offered,  the  Sabbath  kept,  the 
church  attended,  but  the  first  love  had  lost  its  fervour,  and  was 
parting  with  its  force,  and  becoming  colder  every  day.  The  out- 
ward body  of  a  Church  was  there,  the  inward  spirit  was  dying; 
the  altar  stood,  but  the  glory  was  almost  quenched  upon  it ;  she 
had  a  pure  creed,  she  had  a  cold  heart ;  she  had  light  in  the 
head,  but  she  was  losing,  and  had  lost,  rapidly,  love  in  the  heart. 
And  this  evidence  of  such  departure,  and  death  of  love,  we  have 
strikingly  exemplified  in  the  language  used  by  the  prophet  Mala- 
chi ;  when  he  shows  that  wherever  there  is  a  fading,  dying  love, 
there  all  works  become  weariness,  all  duties  a  burden.  In  Mala- 
chi,  ch.  i.,  God  speaks  thus  to  a  people  just  iu  the  condition  of 
the  Ephesian  Church — "  Ye  offer  polluted  bread  upon  mine  altar ; 
and  ye  say,  Wherein  have  we  polluted  thee  ?  In  that  ye  say, 
The  table  of  the  Lord  is  contemptible.  And  if  ye  offer  the  blind 
for  sacrifice,  is  it  not  evil  ?  and  if  ye  offer  the  lame  and  sick,  is 
it  not  evil  ?  offer  it  now  unto  thy  governor ;  will  he  be  pleased 
with  thee,  or  accept  thy  person  ?  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  Who 
is  there  even  among  you  that  would  shut  the  doors  for  nought  ? 
Neither  do  ye  kindle  fire  on  mine  altar  for  nought.  I  have  no 
pleasure  in  you,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  neither  will  I  accept  an 
offering  at  your  hand."  "  Ye  said  also.  What  a  weariness  is  it !" 
All  duties  become  weariness  the  moment  that  love  to  the  Lord 
of  the  duty  becomes  cold.  "And  ye  have  snuffed  at  it,  saith  the 
Lord  of  hosts;  and  ye  brought  that  which  was  torn,  and  the 
lame,  and  the  sick ;  thus  ye  brought  an  offering :  should  I  accept 
this  at  your  hand  ?  saith  the  Lord."  Thus  the  prophet  shows 
that  love  had  grown  cold  in  his  day ;  and  the  charge  of  the  Lord 
of  the  prophets  here  is,  that  while  all  these  works  were  carried 
on,  and  carried  on  with  vigour,  the  love  that  should  make  them 
delightful  was  all  but  gone.  You  who  are  the  children  of  God, 
(known  to  him,  and  why  not  known  to  yourselves  ?)  know  well 
that  when  first  your  eyes  were  opened,  and  you  were  made  to  see 
what  you  yourselves  were,  and  what  Christ  is, — what  the  law 
demanded — what  Christ  has  done, — what  you  had  lost,  and  what 


FIRST  LOVE  LOST.  99 

he  has  recovered  for  you — how  ardent  was  your  gratitude  !  how 
enthusiastic  your  love  !  You  thought  no  sacrifice  too  severe — no 
hurden  too  heavy — no  toil  too  hard  for  Christ's  sake, — in  order 
to  manifest  to  him  the  love  that  you  bore  him ;  but  is  it  not  true 
that  much  of  this  has  faded  away  ?  that  that  burning  enthusiasm 
which  was  kindled  when  you  first  beheld  the  sun  and  came  into 
contact  with  his  beams,  is  now  smouldering — while  the  smoke 
rather  than  the  bright  flame  indicates  that  it  is  not  altogether 
quenched  ?  I  ask  of  you  a  very  solemn  personal  question — Is 
this  evidence  that  you  are  dying — dying  in  a  sense  in  which  the 
body  does  not — departing  from  Christ — passing  into  the  Aphelion 
—  ceasing  to  be  what  you  hoped  you  were,  the  children  of  God  ? 
It  is  a  very  delicate  ground;  yet  I  answer,  you  may  not  have  the 
ardent  and  enthusiastic  love  of  your  first  conversion,  and  still  you 
may  be  more  a  Christian  now,  and  more  like  Christ  than  you 
were  then.  Passion  may  have  lost  its  enthusiasm  by  settling 
down  into  a  fixed,  riveted,  powerful  principle ;  it  may  be  that  by 
the  progress  of  grace,  and  by  the  development  of  Christian 
character,  what  was  passion  at  our  first  conversion,  may  be  prin- 
ciple, permanent  and  enduring,  now.  The  first  burst  of  enthu- 
siasm may  have  passed  away — the  feeling  that  was  partly  animal, 
partly  spiritual,  may  have  very  much  abated ;  but  what  you  have 
lost  in  fervour  you  may  have  gained  in  force  —  what  might 
be  misconstrued  as  decay,  may  be  only  greater  depth ; — there 
maybe  less  noise,  because  the  stream,  instead  of  being  broad  and 
sparkling  in  the  sun,  has  become  narrowed  into  a  deeper  channel, 
and  rolls  in  greater  silence,  but  with  a  flood  of  mightier  majesty, 
to  the  main. 

It  may  not  be,  then,  that  because  you  do  not  feel  as  when  you 
were  young,  or  as  when  you  were  first  converted,  that  either  your 
love  to  Christ,  or  your  sympathy  with  his  cause,  or  your  attach- 
ment to  his  truth,  has  faded  from  your  heart  in  the  least  degree. 
This,  I  say,  is  delicate  ground,  and  one  requires  to  tread  it  very 
carefully;  though  I  think  we  never  should  forget  that  love  to 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  much  more  a  principle  than  a  passion. 
It  is  a  principle  of  which  it  seems  as  if  we  were  sometimes  un- 
conscious. What  son  is  there  here  who  does  not  love  his  mother  ? 
yet  you  do  not  carry  abroad  with  you  consciously  and  always  so, 


100  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

the  feeling  of  love  to  your  mother.  But  let  that  mother  be 
injured — let  some  reproach  be  cast  upon  her — let  her  be  in  suf- 
fering, and  then  that  which  lay  nestling  in  the  heart,  apparently 
a  dead  principle,  collects  its  mighty  energies,  and  gathers  up  its 
glorious  sympathies,  and  that  son's  heart  beats,  and  that  son's 
strength  is  put  forth  in  a  strenuous  effort  to  mitigate  a 
mother's  suffering.  It  maybe  thus  with  your  love  to  Christ j 
what  was  passion  once — fervid,  enthusiastic,  overwhelming — may 
now  indeed  be  fixed  and  condensed  into  a  settled  principle  that 
would  look  the  flame,  and  the  fagot,  and  the  inquisitor,  and 
prison,  and  martyrdom,  in  the  face,  and  count  all  but  loss  for 
Christ  Jesus'  sake. 

But,  notwithstanding  this,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  dying 
spiritually ;  whether  one  who  is  indeed  regenerated  ever  can  cease 
to  be  so,  it  is  now  needless  to  discuss.  I  must  preach  from  such 
words,  for  the  Lord  contemplates  in  this  passage  the  possibility 
of  such  a  state.  We  are  told  to  beware  of  "an  evil  heart  of 
unbelief  in  departing  from  the  living  God."  There  is  such  a 
thing  as  loss  of  power,  as  well  as  loss  of  passion.  There  may  be 
a  downward  career  when  the  heart  becomes  heavier,  and  the  will 
becomes  weaker,  and  you  are  precipitated  downward  and  down- 
ward till  you  tremble  on  the  very  brink  of  everlasting  destruction. 
Read  at  your  leisure  Jer.  ii.  1 — 9  :  "  Moreover  the  word  of  the 
Lord  came  to  me,  saying,  Go  and  cry  in  the  ears  of  Jerusalem, 
saying,  Thus  saith  the  Lord ;  I  remember  thee,  the  kindness  of 
thy  youth,  the  love  of  thine  espousals,  when  thou  wcntest  after 
me  in  the  wilderness,  in  a  land  that  was  not  sown.  Israel  was 
holiness  unto  the  Lord,  and  the  first-fruits  of  his  increase :  all 
that  devour  him  shall  offend;  evil  shall  come  upon  them,  saith 
the  Lord.  Hear  ye  the  word  of  the  Lord,  0  house  of  Jacob,  and 
all  the  families  of  the  house  of  Israel :  thus  saith  the  Lord,  What 
iniquity  have  your  fathers  found  in  me,  that  they  are  gone  far 
from  me,  and  have  walked  after  vanity,  and  are  become  vain  ? 
Neither  said  they,  Where  is  the  Lord  that  brought  us  up  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt,  that  led  us  through  the  wilderness,  through  a 
land  of  deserts  and  of  pits,  through  a  land  of  drought,  and  of  the 
shadow  of  death,  through  a  land  that  no  man  passed  through,  and 
where  no  man  dwelt  ?     And  I  brought  you  into  a  plentiful  coun- 


FIRST  LOVE  LOST.        "^  101 

try,  to  eat  the  fruit  thereof  and  the  goodness  thereof;  but  when 
ye  entered,  ye  defiled  my  land,  and  made  mine  heritage  an  abomi- 
nation. The  priests  said  not.  Where  is  the  Lord  ?  and  they  that 
handle  the  law  knew  me  not :  the  pastors  also  transgressed  against 
me,  and  the  prophets  prophesied  by  Baal,  and  walked  after  things 
that  do  not  profit.  Wherefore  I  will  yet  plead  with  you,  saith 
the  Lord,  and  with  your  children's  children  will  I  plead,''  —  in 
all  which  one  may  see  a  progressive  departure  from  what  the 
prophet  calls  the  love  of  first  espousals,  how  beautiful  it  is  at  first, 
and  how  it  may  decline  at  last. 

Let  me  attempt  to  unfold  some  signs  by  which  you  may  know 
if  your  first  love  is  being  "  left."  The  first  evidence  of  dying 
love  will  be  less  interest  in  divine  or  religious  and  spiritual  things 
than  you  had  before.  These  will  not  occupy  so  much  of  your 
thoughts,  nor  absorb  so  much  of  your  heart's  affections.  You  will 
be  less  anxious  to  read  the  last  news  of  missionary  exertion,  enter- 
prise, and  success,  and  more  desirous  to  hear  the  last  news  of  the 
last  battle,  or  the  downfall  of  the  last  capital,  or  the  upsetting  of 
the  last  throne.  If  your  love  be  dying,  you  will  be  more  anxious 
to  hear  of  a  discovery  in  chemistry,  or  of  a  wonderful  fossil  that 
has  been  dug  by  Dr.  Buckland  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  or 
of  some  new  star  detected  by  Lord  Rosse's  telescope,  than  you 
will  be  to  hear  of  some  new  island  in  the  bosom  of  the  deep  that 
has  been  rescued  from  heathenism,  and  added  to  the  kingdom  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  If  your  love  be  really  a  dying  love,  you 
will  prefer  to  belong  to  a  literary  society  rather  than  to  the  Bible 
Society, — ^you  will  strive  more  to  be  a  fellow  of  the  Royal  Society 
than  to  be  a  member  of  the  City  Mission, — and  you  will  sacrifice 
and  suficr  more,  a  great  deal  more,  to  be  a  member  of  Parliament, 
than  to  be  the  president  of  a  ragged  school.  These  are  evidences 
of  preponderating  earthly  affinities,  and  I  fear,  in  many  a  case, 
of  waning  and  decaying  spiritual  love. 

In  the  second  place,  if  your  love  is  dying  and  being  left,  there 
will  be  less  attention  to  private  communion  with  God.  In  the 
first  place,  it  is  not  what  you  are  in  the  pulpit,  or  in  the  pew,  that 
shows  best  what  you  really  are ;  it  is  what  you  are  when  you  have 
shut  the  doors  and  gone  into  the  closet,  and  no  man  can  see  you. 
A  man  is  really  what  he  is  when  alone  with  God ;  there  he  knows 

9« 


102  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

there  is  no  eye  looking  on  which  he  wishes  to  deceive  —  no  ear 
listening  that  he  wishes  to  captivate  —  nobody  there  whose  ap- 
plause, or  patronage,  or  power  he  desires  to  conciliate.  Just  as 
you  are  when  you  are  alone  with  God,  that  you  are  truly  and 
really.  When  the  Bible  becomes  to  you  a  very  dry,  dull  book, 
and  you  are  glad  when  you  have  got  the  romance  in  its  stead — 
when  prayer  comes  to  be  very  weariness,  so  that  you  have  no 
delight  or  pleasure  in  it,  yours  is  a  questionable  state.  We  are 
told  by  a  very  beautiful  poet,  "  prayer  is  the  breath  of  the  soul ;" 
breath  is  an  indication  of  life,  and  whenever  one  ceases  to  breathe 
it  needs  no  logic  to  convince  you  that  the  subject  has  ceased  to 
live.     "Prayer,"  he  says, 

is  the  Christian's  vital  breath, 


The  Christian's  native  air, 
His  ■watchword  at  the  gates  of  death; 
He  enters  heaven  with  prayer." 

When  you  are  alone  with  God,  looking  at  self  in  his  light,  are 
you  obliged  to  say  what  another  poet  from  the  depths  of  his  own 
heart  said  ? 

"Where  is  the  blessedness  I  knew 
When  first  I  saw  the  Lord  ? 
Where  is  the  soul-refreshing  view 
Of  Jesus  and  his  word  ? 

"  What  peaceful  hours  I  once  enjoyed ! 
How  sweet  their  memory  still ! 
But  they  have  left  an  aching  void 
The  world  can  never  fill." 

Do  these  lines  express  your  experience  ?  Perhaps  they  do,  and 
yet  it  may  be  consistent  with  the  experience  of  a  child  of  God, 
if  you  can  add, — 

"  0  for  a  closer  walk  with  God  ! 

A  calm  and  heavenly  frame, 

A  light  to  shine  upon  the  road 

That  leads  me  to  the  Lamb  ! 

"  Return,  0  holy  Dove,  return; 
Sweet  messenger  of  rest  ; 
I  hate  the  sin  that  made  thee  mourn. 
And  drove  thee  from  my  breast 


FIRST  LOVE  LOST.  '  103 

«• '  "The  dearest  idol  I  have  known, 

Whate'er  that  idol  be, 
Help  me  to  tear  it  from  thy  throne. 
And  worship  only  thee. 

"  So  shall  my  walk  be  close  with  God, 
Calm  and  serene  my  frame, 
A  light  to  shine  upon  the  road 
That  leads  me  to  the  Lamb." 

Is  this  your  spirit  ?  If  so  your  love  may  have  faded,  but  you  are 
by  the  lamp  that  can  rekindle  it ;  your  hearts  may  have  become 
cold,  but  you  are  near  to  the  altar  from  which  a  live  coaL  may  be 
taken  wherewith  to  touch  it. 

Another  instance  of  leaving  our  first  love  will  be  found  in  less 
love  for  the  public  worship  of  God  and  attendance  in  the  sanc- 
tuary. Once  you  Qould  say,  "  A  day  in  thy  courts  is  better  than 
a  thousand.  I  had  rather  be  a  doorkeeper  in  the  house  of  my 
God  than  to  dwell  in  the  tents  of  wickedness."  Once  you  were 
as  often  in  your  pew  as  there  are  sabbaths  in  the  year,  and  not 
seldom  on  the  week  evenings  too ;  but  you  began  to  give  up  the 
week-day  service  because  you  had  no  time — you  would  lose  some 
two  and  a  half,  or  three,  or  four,  or  five  per  cent,  if  you  were  to 
attend  it.  Once  you  were  the  delighted  listener  in  the  house  of 
God,  but  now,  somehow  or  other,  headaches  always  happen  on  a 
Sunday,  and  clouds  and  threatening  showers  are  visible  in  the 
sky  on  that  day  which  are  invisible  on  dividend  and  other  week- 
days ;  and  somehow  or  other,  the  way  to  the  house  of  God  has 
become  so  long  that  used  to  be  so  short ;  and  if  you  have  a  car- 
riage, the  horses  are  always  fatigued  on  Sunday,  not  improbably 
because  they  have  been  taking  you  from  the  opera  at  one  on  the 
Sunday  morning,  and  from  the  same  cause  the  coachman  is  worn 
out  too ;  and  so  it  happens  by  a  multitude  of  disagreeables  that 
you  cannot  get  to  the  house  of  God  as  you  used  to  do.  Besides, 
the  preacher's  sermon  is  so  much  more  dull ;  you  desire  to  sec 
more  flowers  in  the  minister's  language,  like  poppies  in  a  corn- 
field, which  captivate  the  eye  if  they  cannot  feed  the  hungry — 
you  would  like  more  figures  of  speech — a  few  more  touching  and 
beautiful  descriptions; — you  do  not  like  that  plain  scriptural 
speaking.     Your  position  is  ominous ;  for  you  do  not,  like  new- 


104  THE  CHURCH  OP  EPHESUS. 

born  babes  desire  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,  that  ye  may  grow 
thereby.  It  is  worse, — your  state  is  perilous.  You  are  called 
upon  to  return  and  repent,  and  do  the  first  works,  and  seek  unto 
God  that  he  may  revive  his  work  in  your  hearts  in  the  midst  of 
the  years. 

Another  evidence  of  dying  love,  or  of  departing  from  the  first 
love,  is,  when  we  begin  to  think  the  world  and  all  that  is  in  the 
world  less  evil  than  we  used  to  think  it.  True,  we  read  in  a 
book  that  we  would  rather  sometimes  forget,  "  Love  not  the  world, 
neither  the  things  that  are  in  the  world.  If  any  man  love  the 
world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him.  For  all  that  is  in 
the  world,  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  and  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and  the 
pride  of  life,  is  not  of  that  Father,  but  of  the  world."  All  this 
you  once  believed,  but  now  you  do  not  believe  it;  you  think  the 
air  of  the  world  is  not  so  cold,  after  all — that  it  is  not  so  uncon- 
genial, after  all.  When  your  spiritual  life  decays,  you  begin  to 
regret  that  you  have  been  over-righteous,  over-strict,  and  that 
you  may  without  any  great  risk  become  a  little  more  lax,  and 
conform  a  little  more  to  the  world,  always  determined,  neverthe- 
less, to  neutralize  upon  the  Sunday  the  poison  which  you  may 
have  contracted  in  the  week,  and  manage  matters  so  skilfully 
and  so  adroitly  that  you  shall  not  lose  Christ's  favour,  and  yet 
may  have  the  applause  and  favour  of  the  world.  In  short,  you 
resolve  to  have  a  box  in  the  playhouse  and  a  pew  in  the  Church — 
a  favourite  popular  actor,  and  a  favourite  popular  preacher,  each 
beautiful  in  his  place,  but  either  execrable  if  he  dare  to  step  out 
of  it  and  meddle  with  what  belongs  to  the  province  of  the  other. 
In  short,  you  would  have  fiction  in  Covent  Garden  and  fact  at 
Crown  Court;  but,  alas !  a  day  comes  when  the  last  act  of  the 
drama  will  close — when  what  was  comedy  will  become  tragedy — 
when  the  actor  will  be  disrobed,  and  fiction  will  indeed  become 
fact,  and  the  realities  of  death,  judgment,  a  lost  soul,  a  rejected 
Saviour,  a  nearing  eternity  will  remind  you  that  the  very  rebukes 
of  the  preacher  which  gave  you  offence  (as  I  know  rebukes  in 
this  place  have  given  offence  on  this  subject)  were  the  rebukes 
of  a  friend,  who  warned  you  in  time,  that  you  were  losing  your 
first  love  rapidly,  losing  your  precious  soul,  and  plunging  into 
eternity  without  a  hope, — a  Saviour, — a  God. 


FIRST  LOVE  LOST.  105 

Another  evidence  of  dying  love,  and  one  no  less  decisive,  is 
latitudinarianism.  When  wc  are  losing  our  first  love,  we  begin 
to  have  less  zeal  for  evangelical  truth,  and  far  greater  charity,  as 
we  call  it,  for  deadly  but  attractive  error.  We  begin  to  think 
that  those  things  which  we  thought  in  our  youth,  and  at  our  first 
espousals,  to  be  very  dangerous  heresies,  are,  after  all,  not  so  very 
bad.  We  come  to  look  upon  Socinianism,  which  is  the  half-way 
house  to  infidelity,  as  liberal  Christianity;  and  on  Puseyism, 
which  is  the  half-way  house  to  popery,  as  only  a  great  strictness 
about  forms  and  ceremonies;  and  we  think  the  minister  who 
propounds  on  Sunday  evening  political  discussion,  and  makes  on 
the  week-day  political  speeches,  after  all  a  good  evangelical  min- 
ister ;  and  the  bishop  who  imprisons  a  heretic,  or  schismatic,  as 
he  calls  him,  and  probably  would  burn  him,  if  he  had  the  power, 
with  others  of  the  same  stamp  and  sentiment,  after  all  a  good 
Protestant  bishop ;  that  the  matters  in  dispute  between  Protestant 
and  Papist  are  altogether  of  no  moment ;  and  that  if  a  man  is 
quite  sincere,  it  matters  little  whether  he  be  Mahometan  or 
heathen,  or  Socinian  or  Romanist,  he  is  equally  sane ;  as  if,  for 
instance,  a  man  that  eats  sawdust,  or  sand,  or  arsenic  sincerely, 
is  just  as  sure  to  live  and  be  healthy,  as  a  man  that  eats  bread 
and  drinks  water  sincerely.  The  sincerity  makes  us  feel  for  the 
man, — it  does  not  make  poison  become  bread,  or  heresy  become 
evangelical  and  vital  truth. 

The  world,  and  politicians,  and  friends  applaud  you,  as  a 
patron  of  liberality ;  the  Lord  Jesus  regards  you  as  a  specimen 
of  increasing  latitudinarianism ;  and  while  you  think  you  are 
growing  in  good  sense  and  real  religion,  you  are  only  giving  evi- 
dence before  heaven  and  earth,  that  the  last  sparks  of  your  first 
love  are  fading  upon  the  cold  altar  of  your  soul.  1  do  not  ask 
you  to  be  bigoted  to  a  crotchet,  or  exclusive  in  your  charity. 
God  forbid  !  But  I  feel  that  evangelical  and  vital  truth  must 
not  be  compromised  at  any  price,  or  for  any  purpose.  Give  me 
these  great  truths, — justification  alone  by  the  righteousness  of 
Jesus,  sanctification  by  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  alone,  a  rule  of  faith, 
conclusive  as  complete  in  the  word  of  God, — and  in  all  the  rest  I 
will  be  as  liberal  as  you  like ;  but  of  one  jot  of  these  central 
truths  I  can  make  no  sacrifice.     I  would  concede  the  largest  pre- 


106  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

judice  that  man  can  see  —  I  will  not  compromise  the  least  vital 
truth  that  God  has  spoken.  If  I  compromise  the  truth,  it  is 
latitudinarianism  —  if  I  concede  prejudice,  it  is  liberality.  May 
God  make  us  liberal !  may  God  keep  us  from  being  latitudi- 
narian  ! 

Another  evidence  of  dying  love  is  shown  by  our  having  less 
interest  in  missions  than  we  used  to  have.  You  recollect  that 
when  you  first  felt  the  Gospel,  like  Melancthon,  you  imagined 
that  you  could  go  out  and  convert  the  whole  world — ^you  deemed 
no  sacrifice  for  this  end  too  great — such  was  your  zeal,  and  your 
sympathy,  and  your  love ;  when  too  you  first  found  that  you  were 
a  saint,  you  felt  that  the  same  grace  which  had  made  you  a  saint 
had  necessitated  your  becoming  a  servant.  It  is  a  great  fact,  and 
we  must  learn  not  to  forget  it,  that  he  who  is  the  greatest  Chris- 
tian is  always  the  greatest  missionary;  and  I  am  quite  satisfied, 
that  all  we  have  done  in  the  missionary  cause,  with  few  excep- 
tions, has  been  to  give  our  superfluities.  No  man  gives  charity 
who  gives  a  mere  surplus,  or  some  of  the  loose  change  in  his 
pocket.  It  is  real  charity,  real  evangelical  liberality  to  Christ's 
cause,  when  a  Christian  stints  himself  that  he  may  sustain  the 
cause  of  the  Gospel ;  when  he  sacrifices  something  that  he  may 
promote  the  kingdom  of  God  and  of  his  Christ.  I  have  got  the 
least,  generally,  of  sacrifice  from  the  rich ;  but  many  a  poor  man 
in  this  congregation,  to  my  certain  knowledge,  has  made  noble 
sacrifices ;  and  to  many  a  poor  man,  to  give  a  pound  is  a  greater 
sacrifice  than  for  some  in  this  congregation  to  give  a  thousand,  or 
five  thousand ;  and  whenever  we  have  the  grace  of  Christ  power- 
fully within  us,  and  our  first  love  in  its  first  fervour,  then  we  shall 
count  it  a  privilege  to  sacrifice ;  and  what  seems  sacrifice  to  some, 
will  be  felt  by  those  whom  grace  constrains,  the  sweetest  and  most 
delightful  pleasure. 

Another  evidence  of  departure  from  our  first  love  is  greater 
interest  in  party  disputes,  in  ecclesiastical  quarrels,  in  controver- 
sies about  Church  and  State,  and  less  interest  in  the  great  fact 
that  Christ's  kingdom  is  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost.  I  do  not  blame  you  for  having  your  preference — I 
do  not  blame  you  for  leaving  one  communion,  because  you  may 
do  it  conscientiously;  but  my  conviction  is  complete,  that  the 


FIRST  LOVE  LOST.  107 

worst  ecclesiastical  system  upon  earth,  with  good  men  to  work  it, 
must  be  a  blessing ;  and  the  best  ecclesiastical  system  in  the  uni- 
verse, with  bad  men  to  work  it,  must  only  be  a  calamity  and  a 
curse.  What  is  wanted  is  not  so  much  new  machinery,  as  a  new 
spirit  to  rush  through  the  old  machinery.  I  am  quite  satisfied 
that  mere  outward  arrangements  should  remain  as  they  are ;  but 
I  will  not  rest,  and  I  trust,  by  the  grace  of  God,  (I  use  scriptural 
language,  and  I  use  it  in  its  scriptural  sense,)  we  shall  "give  the 
Lord  no  rest,"  until  every  minister  of  the  Gospel  shall  be  a  faithful, 
evangelical  one,  and  every  home  shall  be  filled  by  a  faithful  and 
spiritually-minded  family.  We  must  work  from  the  centre  out- 
ward to  the  circumference,  not  from  the  circumference  inward  to 
the  centre.  We  must  labour  to  make  men  better,  and  all  the  rest 
will  follow.  Let  us  feel,  at  all  events,  that  whenever  we  begin 
to  quarrel  about  Church  and  State,  about  presbytery  and  episco- 
pacy, about  baptism  and  anabaptism,  we  are  interfering  with  the 
more  important  duties  of  ministers,  and  are  squandering  the  time 
which  we  ought  to  occupy  with  more  precious  things.  As  I  have 
told  you  before,  I  believe  that  all  Churches,  dissenting  and  estab- 
lished, are  to  be  broken  up ;  and  if  we  are  within  twenty-four 
years,  as  can  be  proved,  of  the  seventh  millenary  of  the  world, 
— if  we  are  come,  as  the  best  and  most  pious  men  of  the  present 
day  believe,  upon  the  very  last  times,  it  should  be  our  grand 
desire  to  see  that  we  have  the  right  love  and  the  right  life,  and 
our  loins  girt ;  and  when  we  have  a  throne  in  heaven  and  a  home 
beyond  the  stars,  resting  on  a  Saviour  that  has  bled  and  died  for 
us,  and  looking  for  a  Saviour  that  shall  come  and  take  us  to  him- 
self, we  can  afibrd  to  look  down  from  our  serene  place  with  very 
slight  sympathy  on  the  petty  quarrels  of  petty  m^n  on  petty 
matters. 

Another  evidence  of  leaving  our  first  love  is  when  we  make 
little  or  no  progress  at  all.  I  doubt  if  there  be  such  a  thing  as  a 
stationary  state  in  human  experience.  I  think  men  must  advance 
or  recede.  I  do  not  believe  anything  is  stationary  upon  earth. 
Everything  moves,  everything  is  under  an  impulse ;  and  if  the 
impulse  is  not  always  upward,  it  must  be  downward ;  though  he 
that  grows  downward  in  humility  may  be  growing  more  than  he 
that  grows  upward.     There  is  the  weeping  willow  that  grows 


108  THE  CHURCH  OF  ErHESUS. 

downward,  as  well  as  the  oak  and  the  fir  that  shoot  upward ;  and 
you  must  not  suppose  that  you  are  ceasing  to  grow  because  you 
have  come  to  discern  more  corruption  within  you  —  because  you 
see  more  of  shortcoming  in  all  that  you  do  —  because  you  feel 
more  of  sin  in  every  thought,  and  more  of  alloy  in  every  action, 
and  degeneracy  in  every  motive.  The  very  fact  that  you  grow 
in  the  perception  of  your  own  lost  state,  is  evidence  that  you  are 
growing  in  fitness  and  capacity  for  that  better  state  into  which 
the  Spirit  of  God  shall  introduce  you. 

Let  us  ask  each  himself.  Do  I  love  the  Lord  God,  not  only  as 
the  best  Being,  but  as  a  just  and  a  holy  God?  Do  I  love  the 
justice  that  punishes  sin  as  well  as  the  mercy  that  forgives  it? 
Do  I  feel  it  to  be  as  precious  a  truth  that  God  is  holy,  as  that  he 
is  merciful  ?  Do  I  feel  that  his  law  does  not  exact  too  much, — 
is  not  too  strict,  nor  too  narrow,  nor  too  exclusive ;  on  the  con- 
trary, that  the  law,  in  all  its  demands  of  infinite  purity,  on 
thought,  word,  and  deed,  is  a  holy,  good,  and  righteous  law  ?  Do 
I  desire  to  be  emancipated  from  sin  as  my  greatest  calamity?  Do 
I  prefer  holiness,  not  as  the  way  to  reward,  but  as  the  purest 
atmosphere  that  I  can  breathe  ?  Do  I  regard  sin  as  a  bitter 
thing — as  the  essence  of  the  curse — as  the  life  of  the  worm  that 
dies  not  —  as  the  flame  of  the  fire  that  is  never  quenched  —  and 
would  I  rather  suffer  than  sin  ?  Does  Christ  appear  to  me  just 
the  Saviour  that  I  want  ?  nothing  less  will  suit  me,  nothing  more 
do  I  require.  Can  I  implicitly  trust  in  him  ?  Can  I  put  as  much 
faith  in  one  promise  of  my  Lord,  written  in  this  book,  as  I  can 
in  a  51.  Bank  of  England  note,  and  believe  that  that  promise 
will  be  as  surely  fulfilled  in  eternity,  as  I  believe  that  that  bank- 
note will  be  turned  into  gold  if  I  go  to  the  banker,  and  ask  him 
to  do  so  ?  Am  I  less  selfish,  less  narrow-minded,  less  exclusive  ? 
more  liberal,  more  large-hearted,  more  gracious,  more  sympa- 
thising, more  loving,  more  pitiful,  more  courteous  ?  Are  these 
things  in  me  and  abounding?  then  I  have  evidence  within  me 
that  my  love  is  not  extinguished,  that  its  fire  burneth  as  fire  that 
has  had  its  flame  kindled  from  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  and 
has  the  oil,  or  the  unction  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  sustain  it,  and 
keep  it  alive.  If  the  Holy  Spirit  leave  the  heart,  then  it  becomes 
cold — if  the  Holy  Spirit  dwell  in  the  heart,  then  there  is  a  flame 


FIRST  LOVE  LOST.  109 

in  it  that  never  can  die — a  light  that  never  shall  be  extinguished 
—  a  glory  that  shall  never  become  dim.  Have  you  ever  prayed 
this  prayer,  not  the  least  precious  that  man  can  offer,  "  0  Lord, 
give  me  thy  Holy  Spirit  I"  I  cannot  be  satisfied  with  asking  for 
faith,  grace,  or  repentance ;  I  must  have  the  Author  of  them  all. 
It  would  be  blasphemy,  were  it  not  truth,  when  I  say  that  the 
believer's  heart  is  the  fane  —  the  very  temple,  the  chosen  dwell- 
ing-place, the  royal  palace  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  truth.  Seek 
that  Holy  Spirit — look  not  to  your  baptism,  nor  to  your  Church, 
nor  to  any  ceremony;  look  above  them  all,  and  beyond  them  all, 
and  say,  "  0  God,  give  me  thy  Holy  Spirit,  and  give  it  me  for 
Christ's  sake."  Can  he  refuse  ?  He  cannot.  "  If  ye,  fathers, 
being  evil,"  with  all  your  imperfections,  "  know  how  to  give  good 
gifts  to  your  children,  how  much  more  shall  your  heavenly  Father 
give  his  Holy  Spirit  unto  them  that  ask  him  ?"  In  order  to  raise 
your  love  to  its  greatest  height,  study  God's  love  in  Christ. 
Think  of  God  as  a  giver,  not  as  a  judge  —  as  giving,  never  as 
demanding;  always  think  of  him  as  loving,  never  as  condemning; 
hear  perpetually  ringing,  like  a  sweet  sound,  in  the  very  depths 
of  your  soul,  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only- 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish, 
but  have  everlasting  life."  Think  of  that  blessed  Saviour  who 
crossed  a  chasm  that  no  angel's  wing  can  fly  over,  and  waded 
through  a  sea  of  sorrow  that  no  human  plumb-line  can  fathom, 
and  descended  to  an  ignominy  and  shame  that  even  our  imagina- 
tion cannot  realise,  for  no  object  and  for  no  end  but  that  man, 
with  the  weapons  of  rebellion  in  his  hand,  and  the  feelings  of 
hatred  in  his  heart,  might  be  pardoned  —  reclaimed  —  regene- 
rated —  accepted  —  saved. 

To  obtain  this  love,  do  not  think  so  much  of  the  love  that  you 
feel  within  to  Christ,  but  rather  of  the  love  that  Christ  feels  to 
you.  The  way  for  you  to  increase  your  love  to  Christ,  is  to  think 
very  little  about  what  you  have  attained,  but  very  much  of  the 
love  wherewith  Christ  has  loved  you.  Did  I  wish,  for  instance, 
to  kindle  in  my  heart  revenge,  and  hatred,  and  ill-will  against 
some  particular  person,  I  would  not  go  into  ray  study  and  say, 
"  Now  I  am  determined  to  be  revenged  on  that  person,  and  I  will 
therefore  try  by  every  means  to  blow  up  the  coal  of  revenge 

10 


110  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

within  me;"  for  I  never  should  succeed  by  any  such  inner  intro- 
spection of  my  heart,  in  raising  within  it  a  feeling  of  revenge. 
What  should  I  do  then  ?  I  would  think  of  the  wrong  that  person 
had  done  me, — of  the  crime  he  had  perpetrated, —  of  the  evil  he 
had  inflicted  on  me, —  of  the  ill  words  he  had  spoken  about  me, — 
and,  without  thinking  of  anything  within  me,  but  only  of  the 
outward  evil  that  he  had  done  to  me,  I  should  quickly  feel,  if 
capable  of  such  passions,  revenge  burning  within  my  heart,  till  it 
blazed  into  a  flame.  And  so  if  there  were  any  person  I  wished 
to  love  me,  and  I  were  to  say  to  that  person,  "  You  shall  love 
me,"  he  would  not  do  it;  if  I  should  say,  "I  will  give  you 
10,000?.  to-morrow,  if  you  will  love  me,"  he  would  tell  me,  "Love 
is  not  a  marketable  article ;"  or  if  I  were  to  say  to  him,  "  I  will 
inflict  upon  you  imprisonment,  torture,  and  death,  if  you  do  not 
love  me,"  that  person  would  say,  "  I  maybe  silent  about  you, 
but  no  torture  that  you  can  apply  can  make  love  grow  in  my  heart, 
and  no  reward  that  you  can  offer  can  create  affection."  What 
then  must  I  do  ?  I  would  go  and  make  some  great  sacrifice  for 
that  person.  Were  it  a  mother,  and  were  her  child  to  fall  into 
the  roaring  cataract,  and  the  shrieks  of  her  agonized  aff"ection  to 
call  me  to  the  place,  I  would,  at  the  risk  of  my  life,  plunge  into 
the  stream,  and  seize  the  perishing  babe,  and  bring  it  safe  to 
shore,  and  place  it  in  its  mother's  bosom,  and  then  I  would  say, 
"I  have  commanded  you  to  love  me,  and  you  would  not;  I  have 
threatened,  and  you  would  not ;  I  have  promised,  and  you  would 
not;  do  you  love  me  now?"  her  answer  would  be,  "I  cannot  but 
love  one  who  has  showed  such  love  and  devotedness  to  me."  And 
so  we  love  Christ ;  not  because  he  commands  us,  not  because  he 
threatens  us,  and  not  because  he  promises,  but  "we  love  him 
because  he  first  loved  us."  Thus,  then,  think  more  of  Christ's 
love  to  you,  and  less  of  your  love  to  him ;  and  if  your  first  love 
has  lost  its  fervour,  it  will  be  restored  —  if  it  has  lost  its  vigour, 
it  will  be  strengthened,  and  if  it  have  not  all  the  passion  that  it 
had,  it  will  have  the  fixed  and  riveted  principle  prepared  for  all 
sacrifices  that  may  occur  in  the  providence  of  God. 


LECTURE  VII 

THE  DIVINE  PRESCRIPTION. 

"  Remember  therefore  from  whence  thou  art  fallen,  and  repent,  and  do  the 
first  works  ;  or  else  I  will  come  unto  thee  quickly,  and  will  remove  thy  candle- 
stick out  of  his  place,  except  thou  repent.  But  this  thou  hast,  that  thou  hatest 
the  deeds  of  the  Nicolaitanes,  which  I  also  hate." — Ret.  ii.  5,  6. 

In  my  first  discourse  I  directed  your  attention  to  the  eulogium 
pronounced  upon  the  Church  of  Ephesus,  as  it  is  related  in  the 
second  verse  of  this  chapter.  I  showed  you,  first,  Christ  singling 
out  the  excellencies  of  a  Church  before  he  states  and  condemns 
her  sins,  in  order  that  the  eulogium  pronounced  upon  what  is 
good  may  thus  be  made  the  vehicle  by  which  he  will  convey,  not 
less  pointedly,  but  with  less  obstruction,  the  verdict  of  condemna- 
tion upon  the  evil.  Man's  plan  is  to  pounce  upon  the  evil,  as 
wasps  pounce  upon  over-ripe  fruit,  and  then  barely  to  admit  the 
good.  God's  plan  is  to  pronounce  upon  the  good,  and  give  all 
the  credit  that  can  be  given  to  it ;  but  in  faithful  words,  and  yet 
with  an  afiectionate  spirit,  to  reprove  and  denounce  the  evil.  So 
our  Lord  tells  this  Church,  "  I  know  thy  works ;"  my  omniscient 
eye  has  seen  them  all.  How  delightful  is  this  thought,  that  the 
cup  of  cold  water  given  by  the  trembling  hand  of  a  believer,  and 
the  rich  dowry  that  is  cast  into  the  Christian  treasury  by  a  king, 
are  equally  seen  and  accurately  appreciated  by  Him  who  searches 
the  hearts  and  tries  the  reins  of  the  children  of  men.  And  "I 
know  thy  labour  and  thy  patience,"  and  thy  faithfulness,  "  how 
thou  canst  not  bear  them  which  are  evil,"  and  also  thy  protes- 
tantism, ''how  thou  hast  tried  them,"  by  the  law  and  by  the 
testimony,  "which  say  they  are  apostles,"  assume  to  be  apostles, 
"  and  are  not,  and  hast  found  them  liars."  "  I  have  known," 
he  says,  "  thou  hast  borne  much  reproach" — so  must  Christians 

111 


112  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

still,  in  proportion  to  their  faithfulness  and  protestantism — "  and 
hast  had  patience."  "  Let  patience  have  her  perfect  work ;"  and 
"  thy  labour,"  he  says,  has  been  single-eyed,  disinterested 
beautiful,  holy;  for  thou  hast  laboured  not  for  thine  own  eclat, 
aggrandizement,  or  renown,  but  "  for  my  name's  sake ;"  and  your 
labour,  too,  has  been  seconded,  for  thou  hast  not  only  laboured, 
and  laboured  for  my  name's  sake,  but  thou  hast  not  fainted.  So 
beautiful  and  glowing  is  the  commendation  pronounced  upon  the 
Church  at  Ephesus  !  And  then  with  what  exquisite  delicacy — 
with  what  Christian  courtesy,  if  you  will  allow  the  expression,  is 
the  condemnation  introduced  !  Never  is  rebuke  so  poignant  as 
when  it  is  pronounced  by  the  lips  of  love ;  never  does  a  true 
Christian  feel  his  sin  to  be  so  sinful,  as  when  it  is  pointed  out  by 
him  who  has  washed  him  in  his  own  blood,  and  made  him  a  priest 
and  a  king  unto  his  God.  '*  Nevertheless  I  have  somewhat  against 
thee ;"  and  what  is  that  somewhat  ?  "  Because  thou  hast  left  thy 
first  love." 

This  was  my  subject  last  Lord's-day  evening.  I  showed  you 
what  was  the  evidence  of  a  Christian  departing  from  his  first 
love;  —  less  delight  in  the  Bible,  less  delight  in  prayer,  less  care 
about  truth ;  the  idea  that  he  that  persecutes  it  may  be  a  good 
Protestant,  and  he  that  denies  it  a  good  evangelical  minister;  and 
that  every  man  will  be  saved,  believe  what  he  likes,  provided  he 
is  sincere.  Whenever  a  Christian  is  on  the  inclined  plane,  and 
beginning  to  go  downwards  from  the  warm  sun  of  true  love,  you 
will  see  that  one  of  his  first  steps  is  indifference  to  the  essential 
and  vital  importance  of  evangelical  and  scriptural  truth.  I  then 
said,  that  the  next  evidence  of  this  declining  love  was,  what  is 
just  the  besetting  sin  of  all  you  who  are  not  decided  in  this  con- 
gregation, trying  to  balance  Christianity  and  the  world ;  having  a 
seat  in  the  church  and  a  box  in  the  playhouse — a  favourite  actor 
in  the  one,  and  a  delightful  preacher  in  the  other  —  determined 
that  each  shall  do  his  best  in  his  place,  but  that  neither  shall  dare 
uncharitably  to  interfere  with  the  other;  endeavouring  most  care- 
fully so  to  balance  your  conformity  to  the  world  with  the  peace 
of  your  conscience,  that  you  shall  keep  the  one  shielded  from 
compunction,  and  yet  cherish,  love,  and  delight  in  the  other. 
Be  on  your  guard.     I  believe  in  the  perseverance  of  saints ,  but 


THE  DIVINE  PRESCRIPTION.  113 

that  docs  not  prevent  me  from  stating  broadly  and  distinctly,  that 
when  these  symptoms  begin  to  develop  themselves,  they  are  the 
signs  of  a  fading,  a  departing  gospel,  a  dying  soul. 

Let  me  now  turn  your  attention  to  the  prescription.  We  have 
seen,  first,  the  health  in  the  shape  of  commendation ;  we  have 
seen,  next,  the  disease  and  its  symptoms.  Let  us  now  regard  the 
prescription  for  its  cure;  and  this  prescription,  let  me  say,  is 
addressed,  not  to  the  Church  at  Ephesus  only,  but  to  you.  Truth, 
my  dear  friends,  is  not  a  thing  of  one  century  that  becomes  a  lie 
in  the  next ;  nor  is  truth  something  of  latitude  and  longitude, 
that  may  be  true  in  Rome,  false  in  Paris,  and  neither  the  one  nor 
the  other  in  London.  Truth  is  like  its  God — the  same  yesterday, 
to-day,  and  for  ever.  What  was  true  when  addressed  to  the  Church- 
at  Ephesus,  either  as  descriptive  of  its  excellencies,  its  disease, 
or  its  cure,  is  just  as  true  and  as  applicable  in  the  day  in  which 
we  live,  and  in  the  place  in  which  we  now  sit.  Do  not  suppose 
that  this  is  a  prescription  for  the  Church  at  Ephesus,  but  not  for 
the  congregation  in  Crown  Court.  It  is  not  so ;  it  is  God's  pre- 
scription for  human-kind — it  is  a  leaf  from  the  tree  of  life,  to  be 
laid  upon  the  agonized  and  bleeding  heart  of  humanity  —  it  is 
God's  cure  for  man's  sin,  as  precious  to  you  as  ever  it  was  to  the 
Angel  at  Ephesus,  or  the  meanest  worshipper  in  his  congregation. 

This  prescription  is  contained  in  these  words  :  —  "  Remember 
therefore  from  whence  thou  art  fallen,  and  repent,  and  do  the 
first  works ;  or  else  I  will  come  unto  thee  quickly,  and  take  away 
thy  candlestick  out  of  his  place."  Let  me  now  very  plainly  lay 
this  before  you.  First,  there  is  retrospect,  "remember  from 
whence  thou  art  fallen ;"  secondly,  there  is  repentance,  "  repent;" 
thirdly,  there  is  reformation,  "do  the  first  works;"  and  lastly, 
there  is  a  menace,  a  threat,  that  if  she  did  not  do  so,  her  candle- 
stick, i.  e.  her  visible  privileges,  should  be  removed  from  its 
place. 

First  of  all,  there  is  a  retrospect ;  that  retrospect  is  the  exer- 
cise of  memory.  We  are  thus  taught  that  God  means  every 
power  to  be  wielded  in  his  service.  I  do  not  believe  that  there 
is  a  single  faculty  in  the  human  bosom  to  which  Satan  has  any 
right,  or  which  the  world  can  command  as  its  own  monopoly.  I 
believe  that  all  the  powers  of  man  are  meant  to  serve  God  —  all 

10* 


114  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

the  affections  of  man  to  twine  and  cluster  around  the  throne  of 
God — and  all  the  influence  of  man  to  be  baptized  from  on  high, 
and  dedicated  to  the  glory  of  him  who  has  redeemed  us  by  his 
blood,  and  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  our  God.  Man  is  to 
be  the  priest  of  the  world,  reflecting  all  the  goodness  that  has 
passed  before  him  —  his  imagination  lifting  up  that  goodness  in 
the  most  beautiful  expressions,  and  his  voice  setting  forth  the 
excellencies  of  him  who  has  called  him  out  of  darkness  into  his 
marvellous  light.  Take  a  retrospect  of  the  past  —  you  who  are 
conscious  of  dying  love ;  ask  yourselves  what  once  you  were,  and 
what  you  find  yourselves  to  be  now.  Remember  the  first  respon- 
sive emotion  of  love  that  you  felt  to  him  who  snatched  you  like  a 
brand  from  the  burning.  Remember  the  enthusiastic  devotion  to 
his  cause,  that  distinguished  you  by  day  and  was  like  a  sunlight 
around  you  by  night.  "Call  to  remembrance,"  in  the  language 
of  Scripture,  *'  the  former  days ;"  compare  what  you  feel  that  you 
are,  with  what  you  know  that  you  were ;  compare  the  paradise  to 
which  grace  raised  you,  with  the  cold  and  miserable  state  into 
which  your  own  estrangement  has  plunged  you  —  the  sunlit  crag 
to  which  the  goodness  of  God  had  lifted  you,  with  the  cold  and 
dark  valley  in  which  your  fading  first  love  has  now  left  you.  Are 
you  not  conscious  of  a  mighty  change  ?  Do  you  feel  that  the 
transition  I  have  described  is  not  a  sketch  of  the  fancy,  but  a 
delineation  of  what  you  yourselves  are  conscious  of  responding 
to  ?  What  is  this  retrospect  for  ?  It  is  in  order  that  by  the 
exercise  of  it  we  may  retrace,  by  God's  grace,  our  steps.  I  do 
not  mean  to  say  that  a  Christian  will  always  have  the  warm  and 
enthusiatic  feeling  that  he  had  "  when  first,"  to  use  the  language 
of  the  hymn,  "he  saw  the  Lord."  This,  I  believe,  will  sober 
down  and  partake  more  of  the  strength  of  a  principle,  and  less 
of  the  glow  and  warmth  of  a  passion.  But  yet  there  will  be  a 
mingling  of  the  warmth  of  the  one  with  the  steadiness  and  firm- 
ness of  the  other.  I  do  not  say  that  it  is  evidence  of  departing 
love  that  the  first  glow  of  your  early  feeling  has  sobered  down, 
for  what  you  have  lost  in  fervour  you  may  have  gained  in  fixity 
and  strength  ;  and  when  sacrifices  are  required,  you  are  no  less 
prepared  joyfully  and  readily  to  make  them.  To  illustrate  what 
I  mean,  suppose  a  son  has  an  ardent  attachment  to  his  parents, 


THE  DIVINE  PRESCRIPTION.  115 

that  attachment  does  not  show  itself  by  an  excited  and  enthu- 
siastic feeling  that  plan's  like  lightning  amid  his  heartstrings  with- 
out shade  or  suspension ;  but  let  his  parents  be  in  jeopardy,  then 
that  son  will  show  how  he  loves  them,  by  rushing  to  rescue  them 
from  their  danger.  I  alluded  this  morning  to  the  touching  con- 
duct related  of  Ensign  Pennicuik  in  the  recent  action  in  India, 
who,  on  seeing  his  father  fall,  lest  even  the  dead  body  of  his  pa- 
rent should  be  dishonoured  by  the  foe,  rushed  to  the  spot,  and 
perished  in  defending  his  remains. 

There  may  thus  be  deep  and  ardent  aflPection  not  felt  at  every 
moment,  indeed,  but  ready  to  pour  forth  its  strong  and  powerful 
expression  when  the  crisis  comes  which  demands  its  exercise  and 
efflux.  If  you,  then,  have  departed  really  and  indeed  from  your 
first  love,  are  you  the  happier  for  it  ?  has  your  departure  from 
God  added  to  your  peace  ?  has  not  a  cold  shadow  crept  over  your 
hearts,  dense  in  the  ratio  of  your  distance  from  God  ?  Has  your 
weakened  desire  to  know  his  blessed  word  made  you,  on  the 
whole,  more  merry  ?  You  know  it  has  not ;  you  know  there  are 
thoughts  within,  you  can  neither  crush  nor  endure,  —  compunc- 
tions and  undefined  fears  which  all  the  opiates  in  the  world  cannot 
deaden.  You  learn  by  contrast  that  the  highest  Christianity  is 
the  highest  happiness,  and  that  the  greatest  distance  from  God 
is  the  nearest  to  bell.  What  is  heaven  ?  Nearness  to  God  — 
union  and  communion  with  him.  What  is  hell  ?  Distance  from 
God.  And  just  in  proportion  as  one's  first  love  fades,  in  the 
same  proportion  one  ceases  to  be  happy. 

Never  can  man  know  or  taste  the  highest  possible  happiness, 
till  he  knows  and  feels  the  certainty  of  salvation.  It  is  God's 
great  law  that  it  shall  be  so.  Holiness  and  happiness  are  inse- 
parable. The  whole  Gospel  is  just  a  command  to  be  happy,  an 
entreaty  to  be  happy ;  and  the  man  that  knows  and  loves  his 
Saviour  feels  free  of  the  universe,  because  he  has  the  blessed 
enfranchisement  of  the  New  Jerusalem.  That  man  walks  the 
world  with  an  elastic  footstep,  who  looks  down  with  unconcern 
upon  the  field  of  battle,  and  the  field  of  death,  if  needs  be,  looking 
for  a  more  certain  and  a  blessed  and  glorious  resurrection. 

Thus,  then,  is  memory  brought  to  play  its  part  in  restoring  us 
to  our  first  love.     No  one  can  have  studied  the  Scripture  without 


116  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

noticing  how  often  memory  is  thus  used.  We  find  a  beautiful 
instance  in  the  book  of  Deuteronomy,  where  Moses  says,  "  Thou 
shalt  remember  all  the  way  which  the  Lord  thy  God  led  thee 
these  forty  years  in  the  wilderness,  to  humble  thee,  and  to  prove 
thee,  to  know  what  was  in  thine  heart,  whether  thou  wouldest 
keep  his  commandments,  or  no.  And  he  humbled  thee,  and 
sufferd  thee  to  hunger,  and  fed  thee  with  manna,  which  thou 
knewest  not,  neither  did  thy  fathers  know ;  that  he  might  make 
thee  know  that  man  doth  not  live  by  bread  only,  but  by  every 
word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  doth  man 
live.  Thy  raiment  waxed  not  old  upon  thee,  neither  did  thy  foot 
swell,  these  forty  years.  Thou  shalt  also  consider  in  thine  heart, 
that,  as  a  man  chasteneth  his  son,  so  the  Lord  chasteneth  thee." 
Memory  was  thus  called  into  action  in  the  bosom  of  an  Israelite, 
that  by  comparing  the  goodness  he  had  tasted  in  the  past,  he 
might  feel  more  the  responsibilities  that  devolved  upon  him  in 
the  present.  So  we  read  again:  "Remember  thy  Creator," 
"Remember  the  Sabbath  day;"  and  in  that  striking  instance  of 
the  conversion  of  Peter,  in  the  Gospel  of  Mark,  we  read,  that 
when  Peter  began  to  curse  and  to  swear,  and  immediately  the 
cock  crew;  "then  Peter  called  to  mind  the  words  which  Jesus 
had  said  to  him ;"  i.  e.,  Peter  called  up  and  collected  together  iu 
his  memory  what  Jesus  had  said  unto  him  —  all  the  love  he  had 
tasted,  all  the  benefits  he  had  reaped,  all  the  miracles  he  had 
seen,  all  the  sympathy  that  Jesus  had  expressed ;  and  then  when 
memory  made  to  rush  into  his  soul  the  recollections  of  a  thousand 
blessings,  his  heart  smote  him  with  the  conviction  of  his  aggra- 
vated sins :  thus  the  exercise  of  memory  added  to  the  compunc- 
tions of  conscience,  and  made  Peter  go  out  and  weep  bitterly. 
So  much,  then,  for  the  first  part  of  my  subject,  the  retrospect. 

The  second  prescription  is  repentance.  "  Remember  from 
whence  thou  hast  fallen,  and  repent.".  What  is  repentance? 
Ask  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  she  will  tell  you  it  is  wearing  a 
haircloth  girdle,  going  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,  or  marching 
in  a  wild  crusade,  or  repeating  a  thousand  paternosters  with  the 
lips,  without  one  "our  Father"  in  the  heart.  In  a  word,  she 
will  point  to  her  translation  of  the  Bible  where  she  has  rendered 
it,  not  "  repentance,"  but  "  penance."     Penance  is  a  very  easy 


THE  DIVINE  PRESCRIPTION.  117 

thing;  repentance  needs  for  its  creation  Omnipotent  love.  I 
venture  to  assert  that  I  could  fret  many  a  man  to  march  a  thou- 
sand miles  with  pebbles  in  his  shoes,  rather  than  to  repent  and 
renounce  one  darling  lust,  one  cherished  sin.  The  priest  can 
command  penance,  the  living  God  alone  can  create  repentance. 
The  Church  of  Home,  wherever  the  word  "  repentance  "  is  found 
in  our  version,  renders  it  "  do  penance,"  except  in  one  passage, 
where  it  is  said  that  Christ  "  is  exalted  to  (jive  repentance;" 
there  she  has  deviated  from  her  .usual  course;  she  dared  not 
translate  it  "penance;"  in  this  instance  she  has  therefore  ren- 
dered it,  just  as  we  do,  "  repentance."  But  why  ?  Because,  as 
long  as  she  renders  the  word  "  do  penance,"  man,  the  poor  victim 
of  her  wiles,  does  it  because  it  is  prescribed  ;  but  if  the  Church 
of  Rome  were  to  render  it,  Christ  is  "  exalted  to  give  penance," 
the  victim  would  say,  "  If  I  can  get  penance  from  Christ,  why 
should  I  perform  it?"  It  would  be  like  a  ray  of  the  Gospel — a 
gleam  of  grace ;  it  might  lead  him  from  the  thraldom  of  error 
into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus.  What  is 
repentance,,  then  ?  It  is  not  a  transitory  outburst,  but  an  abiding 
feeling ;  it  is  not  exclusively  tears,  but  tears  and  smiles  com- 
bined, like  a  rainbow,  round  the  human  heart  —  dew-drops  and 
sunbeams  woven  together.  It  is  not  a  feeling,  as  I  have  said,  of 
first  love,  so  much  as  a  great  principle  within  us.  Repentance  is 
not  the  momentary  outburst  of  to-day,  followed  by  the  coldness 
of  to-morrow ;  it  is  that  genuine  sorrow  for  sin  which  has  some- 
thing of  the  fervour  of  a  passion,  but  more  of  the  fixity  and 
permanence  of  a  holy  principle. 

Such  is  repentance.  I  may  state  it  more  particularly  to  be 
sorrow  for  sin  itself,  and  not  simply  for  its  consequences.  Any 
one  repents  when  he  feels  the  consequences  of  his  misconduct; 
but  a  believer  grieves  and  is  sorry,  not  because  of  the  conse- 
quences only,  but  mainly  because  of  the  sin  which  he  has  com- 
mitted. Pharaoh  would  cry,  "  Take  away  the  frogs,"  when  they 
came  upon  him  as  the  punishment  of  his  sin ;  but  David  only 
could  pray,  "  Take  away  my  sins."  Judas  repented  when  he  saw 
the  consequence  of  his  treachery;  Peter  repented  when  he  saw 
his  sin.  The  one  felt  the  efiects  to  be  intolerable,  the  other  felt 
the  sin  to  be  grievous  in  the  sight  of  God.     Such  is  one  great 


118  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

mark  of  genuine  repentance — it  is  sorrow  for  sin  as  sin,  and  not 
merely  for  its  consequences. 

Another  feature  of  genuine  repentance  is  sorrow  on  account  of 
secret  sins.  One  of  the  best  and  most  decisive  tests  of  a  Chris- 
tian's regeneration  is  when  he  can  mourn  when  no  eye  can  see 
him  but  God's,  and  no  ear  can  hear  him  but  God's,  and  pray  for 
the  forgiveness  of  sins  which  nobody  in  the  world  ever  suspected, 
but  which  lodge  or  nestle  in  the  inmost  recesses  of  his  heart  — 
when  in  one's  own  closet,  or  in  the  exchange,  or  behind  the 
counter,  or  in  the  counting-house,  or  wherever  the  providence  of 
God  has  placed  you,  you  can  grieve  when  that  grief  can  find  no 
expression  without,  and  mourn  over  a  sense  of  sin  when  that 
mourning  has  neither  tears  to  display  it,  nor  language  to  express 
it.  Such  sorrow  for  such  sins  is  one  of  the  strongest  evidences 
that  there  is  a  new  heart,  and  a  repentance  not  to  be  repented  of. 

Do  not  look  upon  what  I  have  described  as  something  relating 
to  a  third  party.  It  relates  to  you,  and  therefore  I  ask  you,  have 
you  ever  thus  sorrowed  ?  have  you  ever  grieved  over  the  recol- 
lection of  a  sin  which  the  nearest  and  dearest  friend  you  have 
never  knew,  nor  saw,  nor  suspected  ?  Such  sorrow  for  such  sin 
is  evidence  that  you  feel  that  sin  to  be  bitter,  because  you  feel  it 
to  be  committed  against  a  good  and  gracious  Father.  And, 
blessed  be  God,  such  a  feeling  is  the  clear  precursor  of  a  voice 
that  rings  from  the  skies,  and  finds  its  multiplied  echoes  of  joy 
in  each  believing  heart :  "  My  son,  my  daughter,  be  of  good 
cheer;  thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee." 

In  the  next  place,  such  genuine  and  true  repentance  is  ever 
associated  with  the  abjuration  and  abandonment  of  sin.  Some 
persons  have  the  idea  that  if  you  ai-e  sorry  for  sin  to-day  and 
plunge  into  it  again  to-morrow,  you  have  only  to  be  sorry  for  it 
again,  and  take  another  plunge  into  it  the  next  day.  That  is  not 
repentance.  No  man  is  heartily  sorry  that  he  has  done  anything 
who  does  not  hate  that  thing;  and  no  man  really  repents  of  a 
crime  who  does  not  heartily  abjure  that  crime.  Pharaoh  repented 
of  his  sins,  and  returned  to  them  again  ;  Saul  acknowledged  his 
persecution  of  David,  and  yet  he  persisted  in  it;  but  the  patriarch 
Job  said,  ''  I  have  done  iniquity,  I  will  do  so  no  more."  There 
was  in  the  two  first  a  repentance  to  be  repented  of;  you  have  in 


THE  DIVINE  PRESCRIPTION.  119 

the  last  a  repentance  which  leads  to  life  eternal.  I  may  here 
notice  a  mistake  into  which  ministers  sometimes  fall,  when  they 
represent  repentance  as  something  altogether  different  in  kind 
from  anything  of  which  fallen  man  has  experience  or  conscious- 
ness in  his  natural  state,  or  that  we  have  nothing  parallel  to  it,  or 
at  all  resembling  it,  in  our  actual  experience.  This  is  a  great 
mistake,  and  has  often  misled  people.  If,  for  instance,  you  have 
offended  some  kind  friend  —  if  you  are  conscious  that  you  have 
grieved  and  wounded  one  who  has  showered  upon  you  a  thousand 
benefits,  and  you  see  the  sin  and  the  ingratitude  which  you  have 
committed  in  its  true  light,  you  are  grieved  and  wounded  to  the 
heart  that  you  have  done  it.  Here  you  have  the  shadow  upon 
earth  of  that  repentance  which  is  recognised  in  heaven.  You 
have  only  to  withdraw  the  human  friend,  with  all  his  imperfec- 
tions, and  to  substitute  for  him  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven, 
and  to  recollect  that  against  him  you  have  committed  deeper 
offences,  and  have  shown  toward  him  a  yet  intenser  and  more 
aggravated  ingratitude;  and  feeling  and  reflecting  upon  these 
things,  it  is  neither  enthusiasm  nor  folly,  nor  is  it  unnatural,  that 
you  should  mourn  and  be  in  bitterness,  as  one  that  weeps  and  is 
in  bitterness  for  the  loss  of  his  first-born.  The  world  will  con- 
demn you,  if  you  do  not  repent  of  ingratitude  shown  to  a  friend 
on  earth.  Strange  it  is  that  the  world's  philosophers  will 
denounce  you  when  you  speak  of  a  broken  heart  and  a  contrite 
spirit  for  your  sins,  and  sorrow  for  your  transgressions,  as  only  a 
sort  of  evangelical  fanaticism  or  methodistic  enthusiasm.  The 
world  can  admit  only  what  it  can  comprehend — it  will  not  admit 
what  it  knoweth  not;  for  the  world  knows  neither  a  Christian 
nor  a  Christian's  experience. 

Let  me  notice  that  there  is  another  shadow  upon  earth  of  that 
repentance  which  is  recognised  in  heaven.  Suppose  that  some 
person  has  done  you  a  grievous  wickedness,  do  you  not  require 
that  he  should  own  his  fault  before  you  can  cordially  receive  him 
into  friendship  and  fellowship  with  you  ?  What  is  this  but  a 
testimony  in  the  experience  of  humanity  of  the  necessity  of  your 
repentance  being  shown  by  confession  before  him  against  whom 
we  have  sinned  ?  I  do  not  say  (God  forbid  !)  that  this  repentance 
is  forgiveness  of  our  sins ;  but  such  genuine  repentance  is  evei 


120  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

associated  with  the  forgiveness  of  sins  on  God's  part,  and  the 
enjoyment  of  peace  and  fellowship  with  God  on  our  part. 

But  why,  it  may  be  asked,  is  repentance  so  necessary  ?  I  an- 
swer, repentance  is  so  necessary  because  it  is  the  evidence,  wherever 
it  is  felt,  of  the  prior  existence  of  grace  in  the  heart;  wherever 
there  is  expressed  genuine  repentance,  there  there  is  the  evidence 
of  the  existence  of  genuine  love.  One  of  God's  great  designs  in 
giving  a  Saviour  is  to  create  in  the  bosom  of  sinners  responsive 
and  returning  love.  Heaven  is  the  air  and  the  home  of  love. 
Love  is  to  be  the  governing  element  of  the  universe ;  and  where 
there  is  love  in  a  family,  in  a  congregation,  in  a  parish,  in  a 
country,  there  law,  and  prison,  and  penalty  will  be  supererogatory 
and  unknown.  Now,  no  sinner  can  come  to  love  God  without 
bitterly  regretting  that  he  has  ever  ceased  to  love  him,  or  truly 
repent  that  he  has  offended  God,  unless  that  there  has  been  im- 
planted in  his  heart  the  love  of  God.  Repentance  is  just  love 
weeping.  Repentance  is  the  result  and  feeling  of  love  looking  to 
him  against  whom  it  has  sinned.  Repentance  is  the  tear  that 
starts  into  the  eye  of  love ;  it  is  the  feeling  evolved  in  our  tran- 
sition from  a  state  of  hatred  to  a  state  of  love  and  acceptance  be- 
fore God,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

It  is  thus,  then,  that  wherever  there  is  expressed  genuine  re- 
pentance for  sin,  there  must  be,  prior  to  that  expression,  genuine 
love  to  God ;  and  where  there  is  no  love  to  be  found  to  give 
weight  to  its  tears  and  eloquence  to  its  expression,  it  would  not 
be  the  repentance  which  is  grief  that  we  have  offended  our 
greatest  benefactor,  and  which  is  not  on  earth  or  hereafter  to  be 
repented  of. 

The  true  way  to  experience  this  repentance,  or,  what  is  equi- 
valent to  it,  this  love,  is  to  study  the  humiliation  and  suffering 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Looking  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is 
the  way  to  feel  what  repentance  is,  and  to  know  what  responsive 
love  is ;  not  looking  to  him  merely  as  a  sufferer  in  order  to 
sympathise  with  his  wrongs,  as  the  mere  sentimentalist  of  the 
world  might  do ;  but  looking  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  ex- 
pression of  God's  love,  suffering,  dying,  atoning,  satisfj'ing  for 
us.  It  is  God  in  Christ  making  atonement  for  our  sins  that  is 
the  key  which  unlocks  the  recesses  of  the  soul,  bows  the  way- 


THE  DIVINE  PRESCRIPTION.  121 

ward  affections,  creates  responsive  love ;  for  "  we  love  him  because 
he  first  loved  us."  No  contemplation  of  sin  in  its  hatefulness 
can  make  us  love  God.  All  the  interdicts  that  were  ever  pro- 
nounced on  Sinai — all  the  curses  that  were  ever  fulminated  from 
Mount  Ebal,  may  create  the  dread  of  sin  or  the  horror  of  God, 
but  never  can  create  repentance  for  sin  or  love  to  God.  But 
when  we  see  that  love  against  which  we  have  sinned,  which  we 
have  wounded  by  our  ingratitude — which  we  have  forgotten  and 
forsaken  and  renounced  a  thousand  times  —  against  which  almost 
every  thought  has  been  rebellion,  and  from  which  every  affection 
has  been  apostasy  —  when  we  behold  that  love  submitting  to  be 
wounded  for  our  transgressions,  bleeding  for  us,  enduring  the 
intcnsest  agony  for  us,  and  for  us  while  we  were  yet  sinners — the 
heart  that  is  hardened  against  the  thunders  of  Sinai  is  melted 
and  subdued  by  the  mercies  of  Calvary,  and  we  love  him  who 
first  loved  us.  When  we  come  to  love  him,  how  does  that  love 
grieve  that  it  ever  ceased  to  love  him !  How  does  that  love 
grieve  that  it  ever  suspected  his  mercy !  How  does  that  love 
confess  among  its  most  grievous  sins  that  it  has  never  loved  God 
as  it  ought  to  have  loved  him  !  I  believe  that  this  sin  we  often 
commit,  and  not  the  least  aggravated  of  all.  How  seldom  do  we 
confess  that  we  have  had  hard  thoughts  of  God,  or  feel  it  to  be 
our  sin  that  we  have  doubted  his  mercy,  suspected  his  love,  and 
pronounced  his  dispensations  penal  when  they  were  only  paternal ! 
How  seldom  do  we  confess  as  our  sin  that  we  have  not  been  happy 
when  the  whole  Gospel  was  written  to  make  us  so  !  —  that  want 
of  joy  is  a  sin  just  as  much  as  want  of  holiness  !  The  kingdom 
of  God  is  composed  of  three  elements ;  two-thirds  are  privilege, 
one-third  is  character.  "  The  kingdom  of  God  is  righteousness" 
— there  is  character;  "and  peace" — there  is  privilege;  "and  joy 
in  the  Holy  Ghost" — privilege  again.  We  often  confess  that  we 
have  not  the  first,  righteousness ;  how  seldom  do  we  own  it  as  our 
sin  before  God  that  we  have  not  felt  the  peace  that  we  ought-to 
have  felt,  or  experienced  the  joy  which  he  intended  us  to  feel ! 

Repentance,  then,  I  have  said,  is  produced  by  looking  to  the 
Saviour;  and  in  the  next  place,  let  me  say,  that  this  looking  to 
the  Saviour  always  leads  us  to  come  to  him.  "  I  will  arise,"  said 
the  prodigal  son   "and  go" — where? — "to  my  Father."  That 

11 


122  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

single  expression,  "  my  Father,"  was  the  secret  of  that  prodigal's 
genuine  repentance.  "  To  the  Lord  owr  God,"  says  the  prophet, 
"  belong  mercies  and  forgiveness."  The  stream  that  comes  from 
the  throne  of  God  rises  to  the  level  from  which  it  came.  God 
plants  repentance  in  the  heart,  and  that  repentance  rises  to  him 
again,  and  brings  us  nearer  to  him  against  whom  we  have  sinned. 
Wherever,  I  may  say,  there  is  genuine  repentance,  there  is  also 
genuine  confession  of  sin ;  but  as  that  is  but  the  outward  expres- 
sion of  the  inward  feeling,  I  shall  not  dwell  longer  upon  it,  but 
proceed  at  once  to  the  third  part  of  my  subject,  on  which  I  shall 
very  briefly  dwell — ''  Do  the  first  works." 

I  have  considered,  first,  the  retrospectj  secondly,  the  repent- 
ance; and  there  remains  to  be  considered,  thirdly,  the  reforma- 
tion. "  Do  the  first  works."  The  first  leads  to  the  second,  the 
second  leads  to  the  third ;  and  there  are  innumerable  points  of 
Scripture  which  show  that  wherever  there  is  such  a  retrospect, 
and  such  repentance,  there  there  is  such  a  reformation  of  char- 
acter and  conduct.  We  have  a  very  striking  instance  of  this 
recorded  by  the  Apostle  Paul  when  he  speaks  of  his  own  conver- 
sion, and  of  the  course  of  crime  and  iniquity  which  he  had  pur- 
sued previous  to  it.  He  says,  "  I  verily  thought  that  I  ought  to 
do  many  things  contrary  to  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth ;"  and 
then  he  recapitulates  what  he  did  in  Acts  xxvi.  9 — 11.  The 
retrospect  of  his  sins  leads  him  to  repent  of  them ;  and  that  re- 
pentance leads  him  tcr  a  devotedness  and  consistency,  an  enthu- 
siasm and  self-sacrifice  which  made  him,  if  once  the  least  of  all 
saints,  the  greatest  of  all  the  Apostles.  This  reformation  then 
is,  to  do  the  first  works.  Our  end  is,  to  do  the  first  works ;  our 
purpose,  "I  will  take  heed  to  my  ways;"  our  precaution,  "thy 
word  have  I  hid  in  my  heart  that  I  offend  not  thee." 

Repentance  is  to  bewail  the  sins  that  you  have  committed,  and 
not  to  commit  the  sins  that  you  have  bewailed.  And  the  way  to 
do  the  first  works  is  to  return  to  the  first  love.  Wherever  there 
is  the  first  love,  there  there  will  be  the  first  works.  The  most 
splendid  sacrifices  made  without  love  are  vain ;  the  most  magnifi- 
cent bequests  made  to  a  Church  or  to  humanity,  without  love,  are 
vain.  It  is  possible  to  give  your  body  to  be  burned  and  consumed 
by  the  flame,  and  yet  to  be  without  love ;  it  is  possible  to  give  all 


THE  DIVINE  PRESCRIPTION.  128 

your  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  yet  to  be  without  love.  But  if 
you  have  this  affection  first,  then  these  first  works  will  follow  and 
burst  into  bloom,  like  the  buds  around  you  at  the  approach  of 
spring,  as  soon  as  they  feel  the  touch  of  the  warmth  ©f  the  ap- 
proaching summer.  A  Church  without  love  is  a  dead  Church, 
and  a  Church  without  works  is  a  Church  that  fails  in  one  of  the 
grand  functions  of  its  mission,  to  be  a  witness  to  the  world  of 
what  Christianity  can  do. 

A  Christian  Church  ought  to  be  an  exhibition  of  heaven  upon 
earth, — a  manifestation  of  Christ  below, — a  witness  for  God  in 
the  midst  of  the  world, — so  that  the  world  looking  at  that  Church 
may  be  able  to  say,  "  This  is  a  specimen  of  what  that  which  is 
called  the  Gospel  can  do ;  this  is  a  model  of  what  Christianity 
can  achieve."  And  so,  strangers  on  the  stones  of  the  exchange, 
the  sailor  on  the  deck,  the  soldier  on  the  battle-field;  all,  in 
short,  with  whom  you  come  into  contact  in  all  your  intercourse  in 
life,  will  say,  "  That  man  does  not  say  much  about  his  Christianity 
when  transacting  his  business,  but  there  prevails  in  all  he  is  and 
does  an  integrity,  a  singleness  of  eye,  a  simplicity  of  purpose,  a 
faithfulness  to  his  engagements,  a  superiority  to  trial,  that  prove 
he  must  have  some  fountain  of  peace,  and  comfort,  and  joy  that 
we  have  not ;  we  will  go  and  hear  what  he  hears,  learn  the  lessons 
that  he  has  learned,  and  taste,  if  it  be  possible,  the  happiness 
which  we  see  in  his  character."  And  thus  such  a  one  becomes 
to  mankind  either  the  salt  that  silently  keeps  society  from  corrup- 
tion, or  the  light  shining  on  the  hill-top,  that  illuminates  the 
earth  with  a  ray  of  the  glory  of  heaven. 

Such  is  the  Divine  prescription ;  first,  the  retrospect,  or  review, 
which  I  pray  you  to  take,  and  judge  what  you  are  by  the  recol- 
lection of  what  you  were.  Secondly,  if  you  find  that  you  have 
fallen  from  your  first  and  holiest  impressions  —  if  you  discover 
that  your  heart  has  become  more  cold,  your  affections  more 
worldly,  your  love  less  ardent  —  repent.  Grieve  that  you  have 
thus  walked  unworthy  of  so  good  and  so  gracious  a  God ;  seek 
forgiveness  through  the  blood  of  sprinkling.  He  waits,  he 
rejoices,  he  is  glorified  to  bestow  it ;  and,  having  obtained  it,  go 
forth  to  the  world  resolved  on  sacrifice,  on  suffering,  on  death,  if 
needs  be,  but  that  you  will  let  your  light  so  shine  before  men 


124  THE  CUURCH  OF  EPHESUS, 

that  they  may  see  your  good  works,  and  glorify  your  Father  ia 
heaven. 

And  as  members  of  a  Church,  as  a  congregation  collected 
together,  you  will  testify  your  love  by  your  liberality  to  the  claims 
of  Christ,  and  by  your  liberal  response  to  every  appeal  in  the 
missionary  cause.  You  will  make  this  to  be  clearly  understood, 
that  your  Christianity  is  not  a  Sunday  coat,  to  be  put  off  when 
Monday  comes ;  that  it  is  not  a  shibboleth,  a  holiday  attire ;  but 
that  it  is  a  silent,  it  may  be,  but  a  plastic,  transforming,  sanctify- 
ing principle,  implanted  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  which  the 
world  can  neither  crush  nor  conceal. 


LECTURE  Vm. 


THE   BATTLE   OF   LIFE. 


"He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  Churches; 
To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life,  which  is  in  the 
midst  of  the  paradise  of  God." — Ket.  ii.  7. 

I  HAVE  explained,  first,  the  commendation  of  the  Church  at 
Ephesus  as  it  is  expressed  in  the  second  and  third  verses ;  next, 
the  censure  pronounced  upon  it, — so  gently  and  courteously  pro- 
nounced,—  *'  I  have  somewhat  against  thee,  because  thou  hast 
left  thy  first  love;"  next,  the  prescription,  "Remember  from 
whence  thou  art  fallen,  repent,  and  do  the  first  works  " 

I  ought  to  have  added  in  my  last  discourse  some  remarks  on 
the  sixth  verse  :  "  This  thou  hast,  that  thou  hatest  the  deeds  of 
the  Nicolaitanes."  These  were  a  sect  who  held  wrong  principles, 
and  indulged  in  still  worse  practices.  We  have  here  an  important 
distinction.  Our  Lord  thus  addresses  the  Church  of  Ephesus ; 
"  Thou  hatest,"  not  the  Nicolaitanes  themselves,  but  "  the  deeds" 
by  which  they  were  degraded.  The  distinction  in  a  Christian's 
mind  should  ever  be,  "  love  to  the  sinner,  the  most  ardent  he  can 
feel ;  hatred  to  his  sins,  the  most  unmitigated  he  can  conceive." 
Our  Lord  so  loved  the  sinner  that  he  died  to  redeem  him ;  he  so 
detested  the  sin  that  he  shed  his  blood  to  expiate  and  cancel  it. 
We  must  love  the  Nicolaitanes,  and  pray  for  them,  and  try  to 
convince  and  to  convert  them,  but  all  the  while  our  familiarity 
with  their  persons  must  produce  no  sympathy  with  their  sins; 
and  these  we  must  hate  not  merely  because  they  are  inexpe- 
dient,—  not  merely  because  they  are  unpopular, —  not  merely 
because  they  will  do  damage  to  us  in  the  world, —  but  on  this 
high  and  holy  ground,  that  Christ  hates  them.     Sympathy  with 

11  »  (125) 


126  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

Christ's  mind  is  the  glory  of  the  Christian,  and  in  proportion  as 
we  grow  in  grace,  in  the  same  proportion  do  we  love  what  he 
loves  and  hate  what  he  hates. 

We  then  come  to  the  promise  :  "  Let  him  that  hath  an  ear  hear 
what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  Churches."  It  is  not  a  promise  to 
the  Ephesian  Church  only ;  "  let  him  that  hath  an  ear," — Ephe- 
sian,  Roman,  Greek,  Englishman,  Scotchman,  Irishman — "let 
him  iliat  hath  an  ear"  —  let  all  humanity  —  "hear  what  the 
Spirit  saith,"  not  to  one  Church,  but  "  to  the  Churches"  of  every 
age,  country,  form,  denomination,  and  circumstance ;  "  To  him 
that  overcometh  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life,  which  is  in 
the  midst  of  the  paradise  of  God." 

Let  me  speak  now,  not  of  the  victory,  but  of  the  conflict ;  not 
of  the  laurels,  but  of  the  garments  rolled  in  blood.  The  expres- 
sion victory  sounds  musical  in  a  nation's  ears ',  but  often  it  rings 
with  terrible  knell  in  many  a  widow's  and  an  orphan's  heart. 
Victory  is  sung  in  poet's  song,  lauded  in  the  senate,  shouted  by 
the  nation,  as  if  it  were  an  accent  of  jubilee ;  but  all  the  while 
that  a  nation's  heart  is  bounding,  many  a  widow's  and  orphan's  heart 
is  breaking.  "  To  him  that  overcometh," — the  word  victory  implies 
previous  conflict  j  such  conflict  as  is  the  invariable  mark  of  our  pre- 
sent state.  If  we  are  the  people  of  God,  Christianity  declares  that  it 
is  so.  Whether  we  like  it  or  not,  we  are  made  soldiers  the  mo- 
ment that  we  become  Christians.  The  whole  earth  becomes  a 
battle-field  the  moment  that  the  whole  heart  becomes  the  seat  of 
the  grace  and  spirit  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Who,  it  may  be 
asked,  are  the  forces  who  are  engaged  in  this  field  ?  On  the  one 
side,  Satan,  and  the  beast,  and  the  false  prophet,  and  all  that  are 
assimilated  to  their  character  or  infected  by  their  principles.  On 
the  other  side,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  they  that  bear  his 
name — that  glory  in  his  cross — who  are  baptized  with  his  baptism 
and  regenerated  by  his  Spirit.  These  are  the  two  hosts ;  they 
are  correlatives ;  one  or  other  must  be  supreme ;  there  can  be  no 
peace  or  compromise  between  them ;  and  as  long  as  the  world  has 
Satan  in  the  midst  of  it — its  usurper,  and  as  long  as  the  Church 
of  Christ  has  the  Lord  of  Glory  in  the  midst  of  it — its  Captain, 
so  long  there  will  be  conflict.  The  wisdom  that  is  from  above  is 
Jirst  pure,  then  peaceable ;  and  until  the  whole  earth  is  filled  with 


THE  BATTLE  OF  LIFE.  127 

the  purity  of  truth,  it  will  not  repose  in  the  quiet,  and  be  covered 
with  the  prevalence  of  Christian  peace.  And  remember — as  long 
as  this  dispensation  remains — conflict,  battle,  struggle  is  its  char- 
acteristic J  and  if  there  be  any  man  in  this  assembly  who  does 
not  know  what  it  is  to  battle  with  iniquity  without — who  does 
not  know  what  it  is  to  struggle  with  temptation,  and  evil,  and 
wickedness  within — that  gives  too  unequivocal  proof  that  he  is 
not  the  soldier  of  Christ,  he  is  on  Satan's  side,  and  Satan  will 
leave  him  unmolested  as  long  as  he  makes  no  elFort  to  cease  to  be 
his  victim.  Only  when  he  begins  to  enlist  himself  beneath  the 
banner  of  his  Lord  will  Satan  make  the  attack  upon  him. 

In  the  next  place,  the  theatre  of  this  conflict  is  the  world  in 
which  we  live.  There  is  no  conflict  in  heaven,  because  storms 
and  discord  and  evil  passions  cannot  enter  there.  There  is  no 
conflict  in  hell,  for  all  there  is  defeat — desperation — despair.  But 
earth,  which  lies  between  the  two,  not  yet  covered  with  the  sun- 
shine of  the  one,  nor,  blessed  be  God,  yet  consigned  to  the  gloom 
and  bitterness  of  the  other,  is  the  great  battle-field  on  which 
Satan  wars  with  Christ,  and  the  hosts  of  heaven  are  arrayed 
againt  the  hosts  of  hell.     The  prize  is  your  soul — my  soul. 

"What  is  the  thing  of  greatest  price, 
The  whole  cresition  round  ? 
That  which  was  lost  in  paradise — 
That  which  in  Christ  is  found. 

"  The  soul  of  man — Jehovah's  breath — 
It  keeps  two  worlds  in  strife ; 
Hell  works  beneath  its  work  of  death, 
Heaven  stoops  to  give  it  life. 

"And  is  this  treasure  borne  below 
In  earthly  vessels  frail? 
Can  none  its  utmost  value  know 
Till  flesh  and  spirit  fail? 

"  Then  let  us  gather  round  the  Cross, 
That  knowledge  to  obtain ; 
Not  by  the  soul's  eternal  loss. 
But  everlasting  gain." 

This  is  the  prize ;  this  the  subject  of  the  conflict. 

Having  seen  the  two  parties,  let  us  next  examine  the  weapons 


128  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

wielded  on  the  one  side  by  Satan  and  by  them  that  are  his ;  and 
next,  the  weapons  wielded  on  the  other  side,  that  is,  by  Christ 
and  them  that  are  his. 

First,  let  me  look  at  the  weapons  wielded  by  Satan  and  his 
forces. 

The  first  weapon  that  Satan  wields  is  deception.  "  He  is  a 
liar,"  says  the  Apostle,  "and  the  father  of  it."  He  seduced 
Eve  from  her  loyalty,  Adam  from  his  allegiance,  humanity  from 
its  God,  by  the  skilful  use  of  a  lie :  "  Hath  God  said  that  ye 
shall  surely  die  ?"  And  so  he  uses  this  weapon  still.  He  teaches 
one  there  is  no  God — that  a  God  is  the  dream  of  bigots,  the  bug- 
bear of  enthusiasts.  He  teaches  another  that  the  Bible  is  a  book 
of  exquisite  poetry,  beautiful  history,  and  excellent  morality; 
useful  to  keep  the  vulgar  in  awe,  but  not  fit  for  superior  minds 
or  noble  understandings;  and  as  for  Satan,  (for  Satan  will  suffer 
this,)  he  is  a  figure  of  speech,  a  pretence,  a  myth ;  and  a  new 
heart  is  the  dream  of  an  enthusiast,  and  the  requirement  of 
fanatical  methodism.  He  will  teach  others  that  the  world  is  a 
glorious  place,  money  the  greatest  good,  and  to  get  rich  in  the 
shortest  time  and  by  any  means,  if  the  means  are  only  mighty 
and  rapid,  is  the  way  to  enjoy  the  greatest  happiness;  that  a  man 
has  reached  the  culminating  point  of  the  happiness  of  which  he 
is  capable,  when  he  can  sit  down,  amid  all  the  profits  he  has 
reaped,  in  his  country-seat  and  amid  his  fertile  fields,  and  say, 
"  Soul,  take  thine  ease,  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry,  for  thou  hast 
much  goods  laid  up  for  many  years ;"  not  knowing  that  a  voice 
may  be  on  its  journey  from  the  throne,  "  This  night  thy  soul 
shall  be  required  of  thee."  Others,  again,  whose  hearts  are 
touched,  whose  consciences  are  stirred,  and  who  begin  to  think 
that  it  will  not  do  to  live  in  sin,  and  yet  that  they  must  not  com- 
mit themselves  to  Christianity — those  men  who  are  afraid  of  their 
infidelity  lest  it  should  fail  them,  and  who  are  frightened  at 
Christianity  lest  it  should  annoy  them  —  who  dare  not  embrace 
the  Gospel  lest  they  should  lose  the  sweets  of  sin,  and  dare  not 
continue  in  sin  lest  they  should  lose  the  quiet  of  their  con- 
sciences—  those  men  who  are  struggling  between  antagonistic 
principles,  and  powers,  and  prospects  —  Satan  meets  and  wields 
the  weapon  that  succeeded  so  splendidly  in  the  case  of  Felix,  and 


THE  BATTLE  OF  LIFE.  129 

succeeds  so  well  still  — ''  Put  it  off  to  a  convenient  season ;  and 
when  you  have  got  rid  of  this  trouble,  and  got  over  that  difficulty, 
or  earned  this  little  money,  and  met  that  little  liability,  then  you 
will  turn  to  Christianity  and  cordially  embrace  it."  This  is  one 
of  Satan's  most  popular  specifics ;  but,  like  all  quack  medicines, 
it  promises  health,  it  acts  as  poison.  Another  lie  that  Satan  uses, 
when  the  conscience  wakes  at  last  to  a  sense  of  its  misery — when 
it  is  stirred  to  its  depths  by  the  fears  of  hell,  the  declarations  of 
Scripture,  the  appeals  of  the  preacher,  and  life  is  closing  and 
death  approaching — "  You  have  heretofore  put  off  and  off,  saying 
there  is  time  enough ;  now,  I  tell  you,  it  is  too  late.  The  blood 
of  the  Lamb  has  lost  its  efficacy  j  the  mercy  of  God  is  exhausted, 
and  there  is  none  for  you;"  and  he  endeavours  to  plunge  into 
despair  the  dying  man  whom,  when  a  living  and  a  healthy  man, 
he  kept  upon  the  giddy  heights  and  pinnacles  of  presumption. 
Thus  he  tempts  to  presume  at  one  time,  and  to  despair  at  another. 
All  these  are  lies.  There  is  no  convenient  season  but  the  pre- 
sent; there  is  no  presumption  that  is  not  peril  and  crime;  and 
there  can  be  no  room  for  despair  while  life  lasts.  If  the  present 
should  be  the  eleventh  hour  —  if  the  last  sound  of  the  twelfth 
were  ringing  in  your  hearing — the  exhibition  of  Christ,  and  him 
crucified,  accepted  in  the  cordiality  of  your  hearts,  is  instant  par- 
don and  eternal  peace. 

Another  weapon  by  which  Satan  strives  to  conquer  in  this  con- 
flict is  temptation.  Satan  goes  about,  says  the  Apostle,  "  seeking 
whom  he  may  devour."  He  is  called  elsewhere  "  the  prince  of 
this  world."  Satan,  you  may  depend  upon  it,  knows  a  vast  deal 
more  about  you  and  me  than  either  of  us  is  disposed  to  admit. 
He  knows  every  man's  weak  point — the  very  spot  from  which  he 
can  assail  him  with  the  most  certain  and  speedy  success.  He  has 
all  the  archangel's  wisdom,  all  the  cunning  of  the  fiend,  and  in 
addition,  he  has  the  tact  and  the  experience  of  six  thousand 
years.  The  wonder  is  not  that  so  many  fall  before  his  power,  but 
that  any,  except  by  the  grace  of  God,  are  able  to  resist  him. 
Some  ill-informed  persons  ho  seduces  as  the  tempter  to  reject 
Christianity,  teaching  them  that  it  is  the  mark  of  a  noble  and  a 
free  mind  to  despise  the  Gospel,  and  of  a  superstitious  mind  to 
accept  it.     Others  again  he  so  fascinates  with  the  splendour,  the 


180  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

pomp,  and  the  vanities  of  the  world,  that  these  supersede  and 
render  altogether  unimportant  in  their  estimate  the  things  of  God, 
of  the  soul,  and  of  eternity.  Others  again  he  draws  into  amuse- 
ments which  are  perfectly  innocent  in  their  place,  but  in  which 
he  involves  them  so  deeply,  that  the  amusement,  innocent  in 
itself,  becomes,  from  its  absorbing  nature,  alike  sinful  and  fatal. 
We  ought  never  to  forget  that  it  is  not  so  much  by  things  which  * 
are  positively  sinful  that  men  perish,  as  by  the  excessive  love  of 
that  which  is  positively  lawful.  It  was  the  marrying  of  a  wife  in 
one  place,  the  purchase  of  oxen  in  another,  the  buying  of  a  field 
in  a  third — things  all  lawful  in  themselves — that  induced  the 
men  in  the  parable  to  reject  the  invitation  to  the  marriage-supper. 

So  Satan  succeeds,  by  leading  Christian  men,  and  Christian 
ministers,  to  be  so  charmed  and  delighted  with  things  in  their 
own  place  perfectly  lawful,  that  these  monopolize  and  exhaust  all 
their  attention  and  sympathies,  and  the  weighty  things  of  eter- 
nity are  superseded.  Thus,  with  one  man  literature  assumes  the 
claims  of  religion,  science  takes  the  place  of  the  Bible  with  a 
second,  teetotalism  usurps  the  place  of  Christianity  with  a  third, 
hydropathy  becomes  the  business  of  a  life,  instead  of  the  cure  of 
a  disease  in  a  fourth ;  and  men  talk  incessantly  about  these  things 
as  if  they  were  the  main  things;  and,  judging  from  the  conver- 
sation of  some,  we  should  suppose  there  was  no  such  thing  as  a 
Bible,  a  Gospel,  or  Saviour  in  the  world. 

In  the  Ephesian  Church  his  method  of  attack  was  not  declared 
hostility  to  the  Gospel,  or  the  -suggestion  of  what  was  positively 
evil,  but  by  insinuating  to  that  Church,  Your  love  is  far  too  fer- 
vent, it  is  too  high,  it  is  beyond  the  boiling-point;  let  it  cool 
down  a  little ;  take  my  standard,  which  is  reasonable ;  God's  is 
too  high  ;  take  things  in  moderation  ;  your  works  are  too  many, 
you  will  ruin  your  health ;  you  are  over-religious,  just  come  down 
a  little ;  be  moderate,  take  it  easily  and  coolly,  and  do  not  indulge 
in  that  excessive  zeal  which  the  world  justly  calls  fanaticism. 
And  as  for  your  being  enjoined  to  repent,  God  knows  no  repent- 
ance is  necessary ;  you  have  very  little  to  repent  of;  and  as  for 
doing  the  first  works,  the  last  are  better  than  the  first.  And  then 
you  have  one  excellency,  you  hate  the  deeds  of  the  Nicolaitanes; 
and  very  often  men's  hatred  of  something  that  somebody  elso 


THE  BATTLE  OF  LIFE.  131 

does  is  made  to  cover  the  sin  that  is  so  dear  to  and  so  much 
cherished  by  themselves. 

Another  weapon  that  Satan  uses  in  this  conflict  is  human 
instrumentality.  These  instruments  are  some  of  them  professedly 
his,  and  others  of  them  unconsciously  his.  He  gets  a  footing 
even  in  the  pulpit  of  the  sanctuary  itself,  and  corrupts  the 
minister ;  so  that  if  he  does  not  preach  what  is  actually  wrong, 
he  leads  him  to  leave  out  what  is  unpopular,  unfashionable,  or 
unpalatable.  He  gains  a  footing  likewise  in  the  school,  in  the 
academy,  in  the  university,  where,  if  he  does  not  teach  what  is 
morally  wrong,  he  exhausts  secular  learning  of  that  which  is  its 
only  corrective,  the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus.  He 
works  the  press,  the  most  powerful  weapon  he  can  wield  j  he  deals 
out  gilded  aphorisms  to  catch  the  vulgar,  and  popular  plausibili- 
ties that  form  the  staple  of  the  cheap  newspapers ;  and  on  the 
Sunday  he  despatches  with  incessant  energy  and  zeal  the  most 
corrupting  and  pestilential  lessons  over  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  land.  He  thus  works  the  press  for  his  own  purposes. 
What  are  Proudhon,  and  Barb^s,  and  Blanqui,  but  his  priests  ? 
What  are  Socialist  halls  but  his  meeting-houses  ?  What  are  the 
profane  publications  that  pollute  the  land  but  the  public  efforts 
of  Satan,  expressly  to  destroy  souls  ?  It  is  thus  that  Satan  works 
by  human  instrumentality. 

In  the  fourth  place,  Satan  corrupts  and  perverts  what  is  good, 
and  thus  acts  against  the  Gospel.  In  this  conflict,  namely,  in  the 
corruption  and  perversion  of  that  which  is  good,  Satan  is  most 
powerful.  For  instance,  the  Church  of  the  Jews  was  founded 
amid  miracles,  taught  by  prophets,  patronised  by  God;  that 
Church  Satan  turned  into  an  apostasy ;  it  crucified  the  Lord  of 
glory,  and  tried  to  extinguish  that  truth  it  was  raised  to  maintain. 
So  the  Christian  Church  had  no  sooner  started  in  the  world, 
glorious  with  Apostolic  light,  spreading  on  the  right  hand  and  on 
the  left,  than  Satan  sowed  the  seeds  of  heresy,  till  the  prediction 
that  an  Apostle  gave  to  the  Thessalonians  came  to  be  practically 
developed  at  Rome ;  and  the  cartoon  sketched  so  graphically  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians  came  to  be  filled  up  with  that 
overshadowing  despotism,  which  murdered  the  saints,  enslaved 
the  world,  and  domineered  over  the  kings  of  the  whole  earth ; 


132  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

which  elevated  a  woman  to  the  place  of  Christ  —  exalted  the 
works  of  the  creature  till  they  became  a  mighty  mountain,  and 
made  the  merits  of  Jesus  dwindle  down  into  a  perpetually  dimin- 
ishing perspective.  I  may  add,  too,  that  Satan  not  only  has  cor- 
rupted the  Christian  Church,  but  that  he  is  corTnipting  at  the 
present  moment  various  sections  of  the  Protestant  Church.  Need 
I  refer  to  the  deadly  superstition  that  is  at  this  moment  eating 
like  a  canker-worm  not  a  few  members  of  the  Church  of  this 
land  ?  Need  I  refer  to  the  Oxford  Tracts  issued  by  those  who 
have  been  their  most  bold  and  able  advocates  ?  Satan  no  sooner 
beheld  the  dawning  glories  of  Protestant  Christianity,  and  felt  the 
tide  of  battle  rolling  irresistibly  against  him,  than  he  spiked  the 
guns  of  those  on  the  Lord's  side  in  one  direction,  and  turned 
them  round  in  another  direction,  and  levelled  them  against  the 
very  citadel  they  were  intended  to  defend ! 

There  is  another  weapon  that  Satan  uses,  and  has  long  nsed 
with  great  success  —  persecution.  Pagan  persecution  was  the 
earliest  instance  of  the  use  of  that  weapon,  when  man  murdered 
man,  in  order  to  mend  his  conscience  or  to  save  his  soul.  The 
next  use  of  this  weapon  was  papal  persecution,  when  the  priest, 
under  the  pretence  of  defending  the  Gospel  of  Jesus,  burned  his 
fellow  because  he  differed  from  him,  till  the  flames  of  persecution 
rose  from  the  Valleys  of  Piedmont,  and  amid  the  recesses  of  the 
Cottian  Alps,  and  from  Smithfield,  and  from  Paris,  revealing  the 
darkness  of  the  system  that  lighted  those  fires,  and,  by  contrast, 
the  beauty  and  the  glory  of  those  principles  for  which  the  martyrs 
suffered.  I  had  thought  that  Satan  had  at  last  discovered  that 
persecution  was  a  great  blunder,  and  during  many  hundred  years 
had  laid  aside  the  weapon  as  an  obsolete  and  worthless  one ;  for 
surely  he  must  have  found  out  what  we  are  convinced  of,  that 
persecution  never  built  up  a  good  cause,  and  never  yet  pulled 
down  a  bad  one.  But  he  is  not  weary  of  it ;  it  flourished  in  the 
Inquisition  in  Spain  —  it  has  found  an  exponent  in  the  diocese 
of  Exeter;  and  whether  persecution  is  wielded  by  Hildebrand, 
bishop  of  Rome,  or  by  Henry,  bishop  of  Exeter,  it  is  the  same 
Satanic  weapon,  unsanctioned  by  God,  repudiated  in  the  Gospel, 
denounced  with  all  the  anathemas  of  the  word  of  God.  Christi- 
anity-repudiates persecution;  it  scorns  the  bribe  of  the  treasury; 


THE  BATTLE  OF  LIFE.  133 

it  rejects  the  bayonet  of  the  soldier ;  it  seeks  to  triumph  by  truth; 
and  if  it  cannot  triumph  by  truth,  it  will  lie  down  as  a  martyr, 
and  wait  for  brighter  and  for  better  times. 

The  last  weapon  that  Satan  wields  to  which  I  shall  allude  is  a 
favourite  one,  and  a  very  eiFcctive  one  —  it  is  that  of  divisions, 
disputes,  and  quarrels  among  the  people  of  God.  And  what 
evidences  the  Satanic  nature  of  the  weapon  is  this  simple  fact, 
that  Christian  fights  with  Christian  with  intenser  antipathy  than 
Christian  fights  with  infidel,  or  Protestant  with  Romanist.  It  is  ' 
a  very  painful  fact,  but  a  very  true  one,  that  the  more  microscopic 
the  difference  is  the  mightier  becomes  the  quarrel ;  so  much  so, 
that  if  you  find  two  Christians  of  different  denominations  quarrel- 
ling very  bitterly,  you  may  always  calculate  that  the  subject  of 
the  quarrel  is  some  minute  and  microscopic  point  which  neither 
of  them  clearly  understands.  Combatants  get  angry  in  proportion 
as  they  fail  to  comprehend  each  other.  Wherever  Satan  sees  a 
Church  promising  to  grow  in  prosperity,  in  purity,  and  in  power, 
he  casts  in  the  firebrand  of  contention,  throws  down  some  apple 
of  discord,  and  makes  those  who  ought  to  be  rivals  only  in  renown, 
but  brethren  in  arms,  fight  and  quarrel  with  each  other,  weaken 
their  strength  by  divisions,  injure  their  hearts  by  unhallowed 
passions,  until  the  Church  that  has  survived  the  flames  of  a  Nero 
and  the  persecutions  of  a  Hildebrand,  pines  and  dwindles  into  a 
weak  and  insignificant  thing  by  the  fever  of  its  own  unsanctified 
and  unhallowed  passions. 

Having  looked  then  at  one  side  and  noticed  its  weapons,  let 
us  look  at  the  other  side,  and  see  what  weapons  are  employed 
there. 

Christ  might  have  crushed  Satan  many  hundred  years  ago,  and 
he  might  crush  all  his  followers,  by  the  simple  fiat  of  his  word  or 
the  touch  of  his  omnipotent  hand.  But  he  has  not  done  so.  It 
is  plainly  to  his  glory  that  he  should  not  do  so.  There  is  power 
in  heaven  to  crush  all  opposition,  but  that  power  is  not  yet 
wielded,  or  he  might  confine  Satan  to  his  own  place,  and  human 
passions  he  might  suffer  to  smoulder  in  the  bosom  of  him  who  is 
their  victim,  without  allowing  them  to  burst  forth  and  kindle 
contentions  among  the  people  or  in  the  sanctuary  of  God.  But 
he  does  not  do  this.     He  restrains  and  regulates  the  wrath  of 

12 


134  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

man,  bat  he  does  not  bury  it.  Chains  are  prepared,  but  not  yet 
applied  to  Satan,  for  the  last  day,  when  he  shall  be  chained  a 
thousand  years,  and  cast  with  them  that  are  his  into  the  lake  of 
fire.  Now  each  weapon  wielded  on  the  one  side  is  the  counter- 
part of  that  which  is  wielded  on  the  other.  The  first  and  great 
weapon  used  by  Christ  is  truth.  Satan  works  by  a  lie,  Christ 
prevails  by  the  truth.  His  truth  scatters  the  delusion  of  the 
world  —  dissipates  the  dream  of  the  carnal  heart  —  breaks  down 
'the  presumption  of  the  ignorant — illuminates  the  despair  of  the 
desponding,  and  the  maxim  so  often  proclaimed  by  all  parties  is 
more  and  more  felt  to  be  right :  "  Great  is  truth,  and  it  will 
prevail."  Truth  may  be  silent  in  its  action,  but  it  is  sure  of 
ultimate  success.  It  falls  with  all  the  silence  of  the  dew,  but  it 
penetrates  also  like  the  dew  till  the  earth  is  saturated  with  its 
precious  influence. 

In  the  second  place,  Christ  works  by  and  wields  the  weapon 
of  motives  and  suggestions.  I  have  said  that  Satan  uses  tempta- 
tions, so  Christ  employs  motives  and  suggestions.  Christ  speaks 
to  us  as  reasonable  men,  saying  —  "  Judge  whether  these  things 
are  so."  Christianity  will  stand  the  test  of  the  severest  logic, 
the  ordeal  of  the  hottest  crucible  ;  and  when  Christ  employs  such 
motives  and  suggestions  he  sets  before  us  the  wrecks  recorded  in 
the  past  as  beacons  to  warn  us  from  danger,  and  points  to  the 
hopes  of  the  future  as  rewards  to  encourage  our  exertions  in  his 
cause.  He  plants  motives  in  the  heart,  and  hangs  out  glorious 
hopes  to  animate  the  soul;  he  appeals  to  our  understanding,  and 
convinces  us  by  the  plainest  and  most  cogent  reasons  that  Chris- 
tianity is  true,  that  the  Gospel  is  the  power  of  God,  that  the 
hopes  of  heaven  are  based  upon  immutable  truth. 

In  the  third  place,  Christ  uses  instruments  also.  Some  of 
these  instruments  are  angels  coming  from  their  starry  thrones  to 
minister  to  them  that  are  the  heirs  of  salvation.  Other  instru- 
ments are  faithful  ministers  preaching  the  everlasting  Gospel. 
Others,  and  not  less  effective  ones,  are  Sabbath-school  teachers, 
tract  distributors,  Bible  colporteurs,  missionary  societies,  at  home 
and  abroad,  and  the  press  when  it  comes  to  be  wielded  for  the 
glory  of  God,  the  advancement  of  truth,  and  the  salvation  of  souls. 
And  no  man  whose  eyes  are  open  to  the  wonderfal  events  which 


THE  BATTLE  OF  LIFE.  135 

have  taken  place  during  the  last  fifty  years  can  doubt  that  Satan, 
if  he  gains  ground  in  some  places,  is  losing  his  footing  day  by 
day  in  other  places  where  he  was  formerly  supreme ;  and  that 
instruments  which  once  acted  against  the  progress  of  truth,  now 
facilitate  the  onward  march  of  the  everlasting  Gospel. 

Christ  also  uses  providential  arrangement.  I  am  one  of  those 
_  who  believe  that  there  is  no  chance.  I  believe  this  to  be  literally 
true, — that  there  is  not  a  hair  which  falls  from  an  old  man's  head, 
nor  a  tear  from  a  babe's  eye,  that  is  not  under  the  surveillance 
of  Him  who  wields  the  mightiest  and  controls  the  weakest  things. 
I  believe,  that  providential  arrangements  of  every  kind  are  wea- 
pons wielded  by  the  hand  of  Christj  in  order  to  promote  his  own 
wise  and  gracious  purposes.  I  ask  you,  has  not  the  sick-bed  on 
which  you  have  lain,  and  wept,  and  sorrowed,  been  sanctified  to 
you  ?  Has  not  the  departure  of  the  near  and  dear  led  you  to  fill 
the  chasm  left  behind  with  him  who  is  better  than  father  and 
mother,  and  sister,  and  brother,  and  son,  and  daughter?  Have 
not  the  events  of  Providence  so  acted  upon  you  that  your  own 
will  has  been  crossed  and  your  own  purposes  reversed ;  so  much 
so,  that  you  have  found  a  Saviour  where  you  went  to  seek  only  a 
fortune  ?  More  than  one  Saul  sets  out  to  persecute,  and  returns 
to  preach  and  pray.  No  one  fact  occurs  in  Providence  which  has 
not  its  mission.  There  is  no  one  change  in  your  house,  in  your 
shop,  in  your  counting-house,  in  your  trade,  in  your  profession, 
which  is  not  giving  to  you  an  impulse,  it  may  be,  lasting  as  hea- 
ven and  precious  as  salvation  itself.  Thus  Jesus  works,  and,  in 
the  language  of  the  Apostle,  "  makes  all  things,"  not  some  things, 
but  "  all  things,  work  together  for  good,"  beneficent,  and  holy 
pui-poses. 

Another  weapon  that  Christ  wields  is  meekness.  I  believe 
that  one  of  the  sublimest  prescriptions  in  the  Gospel  is,  "  Over- 
come evil  with  good."  Did  you  ever  try  this  prescription  ?  If 
you  have  tried  it,  you  know  that  the  victory  is  certain  without, 
and  the  comfort  within  is  beyond  the  power  of  language  to  ex- 
press. "  Overcome  evil  with  good"  is  God's  way.  When  Adam 
sinned,  God  overcame  Adam's  sin  by  preaching  to  him  the  Gospel. 
And  when  some  one  sins  against  you,  or  offends  you  by  his  con- 
duct, overcome  the  evil  that  is  in  him  by  the  counter-manifesta- 


186  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

tion  of  beneficence  and  good.  Thus  Christ  overcame  the  world. 
Thus  weakness  overcomes  might,  meekness  overcomes  violence, 
long-sufiering  overcomes  wrath;  and  the  things  that  men  pro- 
nounce weak  are  found  to  be  mighty,  and  the  things  that  men  pro- 
nounce to  be  mighty  are  found  to  be  weak  j  "  For  the  weapons 
of  our  warfare  aye  not  carnal,  but  mighty,  through  God,  to  the 
pulling  down  of  strongholds"  of  the  man  of  sin. 

Christ  wars  and  overcomes  by  the  Spirit  of  truth.  The  Holy 
Spirit  is  given  to  the  believer,  first,  as  the  Spirit  of  truth ;  next, 
as  the  Spirit  of  comfort;  and  lastly,  as  the  Spirit  of  victory. 
Our  safety  in  peril,  our  stability  in  trial,  our  progress,  our  con- 
sistency, our  consolation,  our  greatest  victories,  our  most  rapid 
progress,  are  "  not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  the  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  of  hosts." 

And  now,  having  noticed  the  two  parties,  Satan,  and  them  that 
are  his,  Christ,  and  them  that  are  his,  let  me  state  that  the  issue 
of  this  conflict  is  absolutely  certain.  Let  us  all  recollect,  (for  this 
is  our  comfort,)  that  the  issue  of  this  strife  is  not  problematical. 
Satan  shall  be  chained  a  thousand  years,  during  which  the  Church 
shall  enjoy  peace  and  uninterrupted  tranquillity;  and  after  these 
thousand  years  have  closed,  and  he  has  made  his  last  and  dying 
struggle  to  overthrow  the  saints  of  the  Jlost  High,  he,  and  those 
whom  he  has  deceived  and  made  the  victims  of  his  wiles,  shall 
be  cast  into  the  lake  that  burneth  with  fire  for  ever  and  ever : 
"  And  the  kingdoms  of  this  world,"  it  is  written  by  one  to  whom 
all  was  revealed,  "  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and 
of  his  Christ."  Then  this  earth,  which  has  so  long  been  a  battle- 
field—  which  has  been  torn  and  rent  by  a  thousand  conflicts  — 
which  now  groans  in  agony,  waiting  and  longing  to  be  delivered, 
shall  also  be  the  scene  of  victory;  it  shall  no  more  be  unclean  or 
common  in  the  estimate  of  men ;  the  curse  that  is  on  it  shall  be 
reversed  and  read  backwards,  and  the  great  High  Priest  shall 
come  out  from  his  holy  place,  spread  his  hands  over  its  length 
and  its  breadth,  and  shall  pronounce  upon  it  a  blessing  which 
shall  descend  to  creation's  depth,  and  rise  up  to  creation's  heights, 
and  the  whole  earth  shall  put  off  its  ashen  robes,  and  put  on  its 
Easter  garments,  and  become  the  beauty,  the  joy,  and  the  glory 
of  the  universe  of  God.  Every  object,  in  that  day,  shall  shine 
with  Deity ;  every  event  shall  be  the  chariot  of  his  mercies ;  all 


THE  BATTLE  OF  LIFE.  1374 

places  shall  be  holy,  for  God's  hallowing  touch  shall  be  upon  its 
length  and  upon  its  breadth,  and  the  Lord  shall  bless  it,  and  all 
shall  be  blessed  in  him. 

I  have  thus  looked  at  the  conflict  upon  the  wide  world.  It  is 
possible  to  bo  interested  in  such  a  conflict  as  one  is  interested  in 
the  conflict  with  the  Sikhs  or  with  the  Afighans,  and  yet  to  have 
no  personal  feeling  of  sympathy  or  interest  in  it.  Let  me,  there- 
fore, narrow  the  field  of  contest,  and  let  me  show  you  before  I 
close,  that  besides  this  great  conflict  which  overspreads  the  earth, 
there  is  one  going  on  in  another  and  a  smaller  field ;  but  a  field 
more  precious  to  me,  and  to  each  of  you,  than  all  the  world  and 
all  its  treasures  besides.  Each  Christian's  bosom  is  the  stage  of 
a  contest.  Satan  has  a  footing  in  a  saint  just  as  truly  as  he  has 
in  the  sinner  whom  he  has  made  his  victim.  If  there  be  no 
conflict  in  your  bosom,  then  the  great  antagonisic  principle  of  truth 
has  not  come  into  contact  with  the  previous  dominant  antagonism 
of  error :  it  is  evidenced  that  you  are  not  a  Christian.  But  the 
man  who  is  struggling  to  crush  the  evil  that  is  in  him — who  is 
crying  out  in  the  agony  of  his  heart,  "Who  shall  deliver  me  from 
the  body  of  this  death  ?" — who  can  say,  "  I  feel  a  law  in  my 
members  warring  against  the  law  of  my  spirit,  but  thanks  be  to 
God,  who,"  in  the  hottest  conflict,  and  after  the  hardest  struggle, 
"  giveth  me  the  victory" — that  man,  and  such  as  he,  is  the  child 
of  God. 

Now  we  are  told  that  there  are  three  great  enemies  with  whom 
the  individual  Christian  has  to  grapple  in  this  narrow  field :  these 
are  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil,  and  with  each  of  these 
foes  he  has  to  wage  war.  Let  me  look  very  briefly  at  the  first — 
the  world.  What  is  the  difiierence  between  sin  in  a  Christian  and 
sin  in  a  worldling  ?  It  is  simply  this,  that  sin  lives  in  a  Chris- 
tian, while  a  worldling  lives  in  sin.  There  is  briefly  the  difiierence 
— sin  lives  in  a  Christian,  but  a  Christian  lives  not  in  sin ;  sin 
lives  in  a  worldling,  and  the  worldling  lives  in  sin.  The  differ- 
ence between  them  is  what  I  have  pointed  out  before  to  you, — it 
is  this :  the  distinction  between  sin  in  a  Christian's  heart  and  in 
an  unconverted  man's  heart  is  just  the  distinction  between  poison 
in  the  body  of  a  man  and  poison  in  the  body  of  a  rattlesnake. 
Poison  in  a  man's  body  is  felt  to  be  an  irritating,  destructive,  dis- 

11* 


138  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

organizing  clement,  which  gives  him  no  rest  till  he  has  got  wholly 
rid  of  it ;  but  poison  in  a  rattlesnake  is  part  of  its  nature,  which 
helps  it  to  defend  itself  from  its  foes,  and  to  obtain  its  prey.  So 
in  a  worldly  man,  sin  is  a  favourite  and  a  dear  lodger ;  in  a  Chris- 
tian man,  sin  is  a  hated  intruder.  In  a  worldling  sin  overcomes 
the  man,  in  a  Christian  the  man  overcomes  the  sin,  and  that 
through  the  strength  of  Jesus  Christ  who  giveth  him  the  victory. 
What  then  do  I  mean  by  the  world  ?  I  do  not  mean  those  ex- 
quisite flowers  that  come  unasked  and  beautify  the  opening  year, 
nor  its  flowing  streams,  its  sequestered  glens,  its  lofty  mountains 
— these  are  not  the  elements  of  the  world.  We  mean  that  of 
which  the  Apostle  tells  us,  that  all  that  is  in  the  world,  "  the  lust 
of  the  eye,  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  and  the  pride  of  life,  is  not  of 
the  Father,  but  is  of  the  world;"  and  again,  "The  friendship  of 
the  world  is  enmity  to  God ;"  "  Whosoever  is  the  friend  of  the 
world  is  the  enemy  of  God."  "  If  any  man  love  the  world,  the 
love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him."  Now  how  does  the  Christian 
conquer  the  world  ?  Not  by  personal  and  mechanical  separation 
from  the  world,  by  seeking  a  footing  in  a  distant  shore  or  looking 
for  a  home  in  some  desert  land ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  by  remaining 
in  the  world  at  the  post  where  God  has  placed  him,  and  there, 
in  God's  strength,  beating  back  the  world,  so  that  the  world  can- 
not overcome  him.  Superstition  says.  Overcome  the  world  by 
running  to  a  convent;  Christianity  says,  Remain  in  the  world, 
and  yet  be  not  of  the  world.  Superstition  says,  Cast  off  the 
evidence  that  you  are  Christ's,  put  down  your  shield,  sheath  your 
sword,  run  and  seek  shelter  in  order  that  you  may  not  be  destroyed 
by  the  world.  Christianity  says.  You  are  a  sentinel,  the  great 
Captain  of  the  faith  has  placed  you  there, — there  you  must  stand, 
taking  the  whole  armour  of  God,  and,  having  done  all,  stand. 
You  are  to  contend  with  and  overcome  the  smiles  of  the  world, 
resolved  not  to  be  seduced  by  them ;  you  are  to  contend  with  the 
frowns  of  the  world,  resolved  not  to  be  put  down  by  them.  You 
are  to  be  patient  in  suffering,  thankful  in  prosperity,  Christian  in 
all  things,  so  shall  your  least  and  your  loftiest  struggles  be  crowned 
with  success,  while  you  are  making  your  lowly  and  protracted 
pilgrimage  from  earth  to  immortality — so  in  the  world  you  over- 
come the  world,  and  are  not  of  the  world.     Let  me  give  you  an 


THE  BATTLE  OF  LIFE.  139 

illustration  from  the  Apostle  Paul,  to  show  how  a  Christian  man, 
wherever  he  is,  will  always  keep  this  one  object  predominant. 
Do  not  too  many  Christians  now,  when  they  go  across  to  the  Con- 
tinent, leave  all  their  Christianity  on  this  side  the  Channel,  and 
indulge  in  all  the  pomps,  the  vanities,  and  the  amusements  of  a 
dissipated  capital  ?  Many  that  go  to  Athens  or  to  Rome,  or  to 
other  illustrious  cities,  think  only  of  their  splendid  architecture, 
the  beautiful  paintings,  the  exquisite  sculpture,  and  act  as  if  thej 
had  forgotten  that  they  had  been  baptized  into  the  visible 
Church,  and  some  of  them  called  into  the  true  and  living  Church 
of  the  Lamb.  Let  us  look,  by  way  of  contrast,  at  the  conduct 
of  the  Apostle  Paul — one  who  was  in  the  world  and  overcame  it; 
he  visited  the  most  illustrious  capital  on  the  earth — that  capital 
which  was  called  the  Eye  of  Greece,  the  University  of  the  World, 
whose  fanes  were  unrivalled  for  their  beauty,  whose  academy  was 
the  retreat  of  wisdom ;  by  the  banks  of  whose  Ilissus  a  Socrates, 
a  Plato,  a  Xenophon,  and  the  most  illustrious  of  mankind  daily 
and  hourly  trod.  The  Apostle  had  taste,  genius,  education, 
talent;  he  had,  to  use  the  modern  phrase,  "aesthetical  culture," 
just  as  much  as  any  of  those  who  have  claimed  a  monopoly  of  it. 
But  when  he  went  to  Athens,  he  saw  none  of  its  splendours ;  he 
was  captivated  by  nothing  of  its  beauty,  he  turned  his  back  upon 
its  temples,  and  its  schools,  and  its  lofty  halls,  and  its  glorious 
monuments,  and  he  saw  in  that  clear  light  which  came  down 
from  heaven,  but  one  painful  and  terrible  spectacle — a  city  wholly 
given  to  idolatry;  its  moral  ruin  overpowered  in  his  mind  all  its 
artistic  magnificence. 

Here  was  one  who  was  in  the  world,  and  a  victor  over  it.  This 
Paul,  too,  we  read,  went  to  Rome ;  and  when  there,  I  have  no 
doubt  he  paused  in  the  senate,  if  peradventure  he  might  hear  the 
echoes  of  that  eloquence  which  thrilled  and  captivated  the  world- 
He  climbed  the  lofty  Capitol,  that  he  might  look  around  him  on 
that  glorious  panorama  of  all  that  was  splendid,  and  beautiful, 
and  mighty.  He  saw  the  fasces  —  those  awful  symbols  of  de- 
parted justice ;  he  could  admire  the  graceful  pillar,  and  look  with 
reverence  on  the  patriot's  tomb,  and  with  delight  on  the  cluster- 
ing columns ;  but  these  occupied  little  of  his  time  or  attention. 
His  daily  walks,  we  read,  were  not  where  history  has  shed  its 


140  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

splendours,  but  ia  the  haunts  of  the  hated  Hebrew,  amid  tho 
abodes  of  the  wretched  and  miserable  slave,  by  the  pallet  of  the 
sick  and  the  bed  of  the  dying,  among  the  victims  of  oppression 
and  tyranny,  of  poverty  and  want.  He  held  it  to  be  his  greatest 
glory,  not  that  he  had  pleaded  before  princes,  but  that  he  had 
preached  the  Gospel  to  paupers ;  not  that  he  had  paced  the  illus- 
trious forum,  but  that  he  had  illuminated  with  the  bright  beams 
of  the  Gospel  the  souls  of  the  dying,  and  taught  the  outcasts  of 
humanity  that  they  had  sympathies  in  a  human  heart,  consolation 
in  Christ,  and  a  home  in  heaven.  AVhat  a  noble  instance  of  one 
who  had  taste,  and  sacrificed  it;  who  had  aesthetic  sympathy,  and 
put  it  down ;  who  could  admire  the  beautiful,  applaud  the  glo- 
rious, be  charmed  with  the  grand ;  but  live  and  die,  and  labour 
and  suffer,  only  to  save  souls ! 

"We,  too,  must  be  crucified  to  the  world  —  we  must  thus  over- 
come the  world;  some  things  in  it  we  must  repudiate,  other 
things  we  must  subordinate,  many  more  things  in  it  we  must, 
sacrifice.  Conflict  is  the  characteristic  of  this  dispensation  ;  our 
carnal  taste  would  prefer  the  beautiful  knoll  in  which  we  could 
lie  down,  and  muse,  and  meditate ;  but  Christ,  by  the  voice  of 
his  Gospel,  or  by  the  dispensations  of  his  providence,  keeps  us 
still  on  the  march.  We  should  prefer,  no  doubt,  to  pass  to  heaven 
in  an  easy  chair,  or  in  a  finely-hung  chariot ;  but,  blessed  be  God, 
he  does  not  allow  us  to  do  so.  He  opens  the  grassy  seat,  on 
which  we  sit  down  in  indolent  repose,  to  receive  the  dead  dust 
of  the  near  and  the  dear;  or  he  enters  the  place  which  we  had 
called  our  home,  and  of  which  we  had  declared  in  our  folly, 
"Here  we  will  rest  and  be  happy  for  ever,"  and  makes  the 
flowers  that  are  brightest  in  it  fade,  and  the  sounds  that  were 
music  to  become  discord,  and  a  voice  pierce  the  inmost  depths 
of  our  heart,  saying  to  us,  "Arise  !  this  is  not  our  rest;  there 
remaineth  a  rest  for  the  people  of  God."  We  have  a  battle  to 
fight :  the  "  Battle  of  Life"  is  the  name  of  a  Christian's  mission. 
To  restrain  appetites,  to  purify  our  affections,  to  sanctify  our  na- 
tures, to  direct  the  eye  of  our  ambition  to  a  throne  beyond  the 
stars,  to  invigorate  the  intellect  and  transform  and  elevate  our 
hearts,  to  save  the  soul  —  this  is  the  great  object  of  the  Gospel. 
We  are  here  as  soldiers ;  to  serve  Christ  is  our  mission,  to  over- 


THE  BATTLE  OF  LIFE.     '  141 

come  the  world  is  our  duty;  the  reward,  promised  to  this  Church, 
is,  '*To  him  that  overcoraeth  will  I  give  to  cat  of  the  tree  of  life, 
which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  paradise  of  God." 

iMy  dear  friends,  arc  you  on  the  Lord's  side  ?  Have  you  taken 
your  place  ?  I  trust  that  many  a  Christian  in  this  assembly  can 
say,  "  0  Lord  Jesus,  I  have  been  often  beaten  in  the  battle  of 
life;  I  have  often  fainted  and  given  way;  I  have  often  fallen  be- 
fore the  foe  :  but  oh,  my  Lord,  thou  knowest  that  my  heart  cleaves 
to  thee ;  thou  knowest  my  resolve  that  thy  side  shall  be  my  side, 
thy  God  my  God,  thy  people  my  people ;  thou  knowest  that  it  is 
my  prayer  that  I  may  know  thee  more,  that  I  may  love  thee  more, 
that  I  may  serve  thee  better;  and  in  thy  strength,  my  Lord  and 
my  God,  I  will  arise  from  the  depression  I  have  suffered,  and  the 
discredit  I  have  brought  upon  thee ;  I  will  redeem  the  time,  by 
thy  grace,  and  I  will  endeavour  to  compensate,  as  fiir  as  compen- 
sation can  be  made  below,  by  the  splendour  of  my  victories,  for 
the  defects  and  deficiencieaf  and  worldliness  and  sinfulness,  of 
the  days  that  are  past."  He  that  can  say  so,  and  say  so  not  with 
feigned  lips  but  from  the  depths  of  his  heart,  has  a  principle 
within  hira  which  is  mighty  in  power,  and  the  spring  of  which 
shall  not  cease  till  grace  is  lost  in  glory,  and  struggle  in  everlast- 
ing victory. 


LECTURE  IX. 


THE  SOLDIEllS  OF   CHRIST. 


"He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  Churches; 
To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life,  which  is  in  the 
midst  of  the  paradise  of  God." — Kev.  ii.  7. 

When  I  addressed  you  from  these  words  last  Lord's-day 
evening,  I  showed  that  the  word  "overcome"  implies  by  its  very 
nature  a  previous  battle.  I  endeavoured  to  describe  what  I  con- 
ceived to  be,  indeed,  the  "  Battle  of  Life,"  by  referring  to  the 
powers  that  are  engaged  in  the  conflict,  and  the  weapons  which 
they  respectively  wield.  I  stated  that  on  the  one  side,  whatever 
may  be  their  names,  ranked  under  one  banner  are  all  the  followers 
of  Satan,  all  that  sympathise  with  him,  and  reject  and  repudiate 
like  him  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  On  the  other  side  are  arrayed 
all  who  belong  to  Christ,  whose  characteristics  as  bis  soldiers  I 
am  about  to  describe.  Christ  might  crush  Satan  by  the  stroke 
of  his  omnipotence,  but  he  does  not  do  so ;  he  suffers  him  occa- 
sionally to  prevail,  but  only  as  preparatory  to  his  final  and  utter 
overthrow.  I  showed  you  that  Satan,  and  they  that  are  on  his 
side,  use  such  weapons  as  deception  —  Satan  is  "  a  liar,"  we  are 
told,  "  and  the  father  of  it ;"  temptation  —  he  has  access  to  our 
hearts ;  I  believe  he  has  a  longer  tether  and  greater  power  than 
our  philosophers  arc  disposed  to  admit ;  he  is  "  the  Prince  of  this 
world ;"  he  is  not  omnipotent,  but  he  goes  about  with  ceaseless 
activity,  "as  a  roaring  lion  seeking  whom  he  may  devour;"  at 
the  same  time  I  believe  he  has  the  archangel's  wisdom  and  the 
archangel's  power,  both  inspired  and  strengthened  by  the  demon's 
depravity  and  wickedness ;  and  therefore  we  war  "  not  with  flesh 
and  blood,  but  with  principalities  and  powers  and  spiritual  wick- 

(U2) 


THE  SOLDIERS  OF  CHRIST.  143 

• 
edness  in  high  places."  I  do  not  think  we  can  account  for  the 
fearful  crimes  that  occasionally  stain  our  history,  or  the  gigantic 
criminals  that  sometimes  appear  in  our  calendars,  except  by  sup- 
posing the  action  of  diabolic  power.  Another  Satanic  weapon  is 
wicked  instruments  ;  a  fourth  is  the  corruption  of  what  is  good. 
» Hypocrisy  is  virtue  depraved,  or  vice  putting  on  the  external 
appearance  and  form  of  virtue ;  Popery  is  Christ's  truth  per- 
verted—  the  stones  that  were  intended  for  a  holy  temple  built 
into  an  unholy  one.  Satan  employs  persecution  also.  This  was 
a  favourite  weapon  during  the  first  three  centuries,  and  afterwards 
during  the  mediaeval  ages,  towards  the  dawn  of  the  Reformation  ; 
and  perhaps  before  this  dispensation  closes  it  will  be  wielded  once 
more,  especially  when  that  sifting  time  arrives  which  will  test 
who  are  Christ's  that  overcome,  and  who  are  Satan's  that  are 
overcome.  In  contrast  with  this,  Christ  and  his  people  use  their 
weapons;  the  first  of  these  I  stated  to  be  truth.  Christ  will 
triumph  in  the  world,  not  by  the  force  of  omnipotence  —  that 
would  be  the  nearest  approach  to  persecution ;  nor  will  he  triumph 
by  policy — that  would  be  stealing  a  leaf  from  the  book  of  Satan; 
but  by  truth.  Christianity  repudiates  the  bribe  of  the  treasury 
and  the  bayonet  of  the  soldier ;  it  will  triumph  by  the  use  of 
truth,  or  it  will  lie  down  and  die  a  martyr.  Another  of  Christ's 
weapons  is  meekness,  patience,  forbearance,  overcoming  evil  with 
good,  "  heaping  coals  of  fire,"  to  avenge  the  wrong  of  the  wrong- 
doer ;  another  is  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  by  human  instru- 
mentality; and  lastly,  the  most  powerful  weapon  of  all,  if  weapon 
it  may  be  called — the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  The  victory  is  "  not 
by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  of  hosts." 
The  man  who  is  overcome  in  this  battle  will  feel  it  as  the  gnawing 
worm  that  never  dies,  that  the  defeat  was  wickedly  and  wilfully 
incurred ;  and  the  man  who  overcomes  in  this  contest  will  feel, 
and  sing  in  songs  of  triumph  what  he  feels,  through  the  ages  of 
eternity,  that  the  victory  was  "  not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but 
by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  of  hosts." 

I  come  now  to  answer  the  question  which  may  bo  asked,  Who 
are  those  that  overcome  ?  in  other  words,  to  endeavour  to  delineate 
Christ's  soldiers.  I  will  describe  them  first  of  all  negatively. 
There  are  certain  parties  of  w^m  it  may  be  positively  stated  that 


144  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

• 
they  ara  not  fighting  under  Christ's  banner :  an  atheist,  for  in- 
stance, cannot  be  said  either  to  act  under  the  banner  or  to  over- 
come by  using  the  weapons  of  the  Christian  warfare.  He  regards 
llevelation  as  an  imposture — the  Bible  as  a  cunningly  devised 
fable — the  hope  of  immortality  as  a  maniac's  dream — the  soul 
and  a  judgment  seat  as  mere  human  fancies;  it  cannot  be  said, 
therefore,  that  he  is  enlisted  under  Christ's  banner,  or  that  he 
can  hope  to  overcome  :  he  is  avowedly  on  the  opposite  side.  Nor 
can  it  be  said,  in  the  second  place,  that  the  Romanist,  or  any  who 
sympathise  with  him,  and  bear  the  mark  of  the  beast  in  their 
hand  or  on  their  forehead,  is  fighting  under  the  conquering 
banner  of  Christ.  The  very  name  given  in  Scripture  to  the 
power  for  which  the  Romanist  seeks  to  achieve  the  victory  is 
Antichrist,  one  who  is  allied  to  and  fighting  on  the  other  side. 
With  him  the  Church  is  a  Saviour,  the  merits  of  saints  and  the 
sacrifices  of  priests  are  his  hope ;  the  essence  of  his  worship  is 
idolatry — the  foundation  of  his  trust  is  falsehood — the  hope  of 
his  happiness  is  purgatory  at  the  best,  not  heaven  and  everlasting 
glory  through  the  grace  of  Christ  Jesus.  In  the  third  place,  I 
may  state  that  those  who  are  Christ's  soldiers — who  overcome — 
are  not  all  nominally  churchmen ;  whether  English  or  Scotch, 
Episcopalian  or  Presbyterian,  it  is  possible  to  be  owned  by  the 
state  and  to  be  disowned  by  Christ ;  it  is  quite  possible  to  be  under 
the  lustre  of  our  beloved  Queen  Victoria's  crown,  and  yet  to  be  a 
stranger  to  the  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  quite  pos- 
sible to  be  sustained  by  acts  of  parliament,  and  yet  not  to  be 
canonized  by  the  acts  of  Apostles;  to  be  a  churchman  higher 
than  the  highest  steeple,  and  yet  not  to  have  the  affections  which 
cluster  around  the  throne  of  glory,  and  find  their  nutriment  in 
the  bosom  of  God.  Not,  therefore,  all  churchmen  are  Christ's 
soldiers  and  overcome.  But  let  me  deal  even-handed  justice;  not 
all  dissenters  are  necessarily  under  the  banner  of  Christ,  and 
therefore  overcome.  There  may  be  great  zeal  for  the  sect,  there 
may  be  none  for  Christ.  Hatred  to  a  particular  church  is  not 
necessarily  love  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Remember  that  it  is 
perfectly  possible  to  hate  the  endowments  of  the  state,  and  yet  to 
cleave  to  all  the  sins  and  the  evil  practices  of  the  guiltiest  sinner. 
It  is  not,  therefore,  true  that  evefff  dissenter  any  more  than  every 


THE  SOLDIERS  OF  CHRIST.  145 

churchman  is  saved.  It  is  not  absolutely  and  infallibly  true  that 
all  dissenters  arc  Christ's  soldiers,  any  more  than  that  all  church- 
men are  so.  It  is  seasonable  to  say  so.  Let  me  add,  too,  that 
not  all  archbishops,  and  bishops,  and  ministers,  are  necessarily  on 
Christ's  side.  Many  a  man  has  professed  to  be  moved  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  to  take  upon  him  the  work  of  the  ministry,  who 
has  only  been  moved  by  the  prospect  of  a  rich  benefice,  or  by 
the  hope  of  a  position  in  society.  Many  a  man  glories  in  the 
apostolical  succession  who  has  never  learned,  and  cannot,  there- 
fore, preach  the  elements  of  apostolic  doctrine.  It  is  quite  pos- 
sible to  be  an  archbishop  and  yet  not  to  be  a  Christian  :  men  may 
be,  in  any  communion,  the  priests  and  the  ministers  of  the  Lord 
by  profession,  and  yet  not  be  the  children  of  God.  Souls  pass 
to  the  depths  of  ruin  from  the  pulpit  as  well  as  from  the  pew. 
The  loftier  the  pinnacle  on  which  the  minister  stands,  the  more 
terrible  the  catastrophe  into  which  his  wickedness  or  criminality, 
or  his  unfaithfulness  may  plunge  him.  Not  all  learned  men,  or 
rich  men,  or  noblemen,  are  necessarily  upon  Christ's  side.  It  is 
possible  to  wear  a  coronet  and  yet  not  have  any  lot  or  part  in  the 
cross  of  Christ :  it  is  possible  to  have  sprung  from  an  ancient  and 
illustrious  lineage,  and  yet  not  be  the  sons  of  God.  There  arc 
noblemen  in  eternal  perdition  just  as  well  as  plebeians :  there 
are  emperors  and  kings  and  prime  ministers  there  just  as  well  as 
peasants  and  mechanics.  Nay,  God's  word  tells  us — and  when 
we  use  its  words,  we  speak  not  uncharitably,  but  faithfully, — 
''  not  many  noble,  not  many  mighty,  not  many  great  are  called." 
If  you  ask  for  evidence  of  it,  the  answer  is,  that  the  great  majority 
of  our  congregations — they  that  sustain  our  missionary  societies, 
Chat  support  our  Bible  societies,  that  contribute  to  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  ministry — are  the  masses  of  the  people ;  though  we 
thank  God  that  in  the  present  day  many  who  are  noble  are  step- 
ping down  from  their  dignity  in  which  they  isolated  themselves 
of  old,  and  are  coming  into  the  midst  of  the  people ;  and  these 
nobles — such  as  the  Duke  of  Buccleugh,  Duke  of  Argyle,  Lord 
Ashley,  Lord  Kinnaird,  Lord  Roden,  Lord  Ducie,  and  others,  are 
gathering  round  them  the  sympathy  and  affection  of  a  devoted 
and  loyal  people.  Never  is  greatness  so  secure  as  when  it  is 
allied  to  goodness;  and  never  are  noblemen  so  noble  indeed,  as 

13 


146  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

when  they  lend  all  they  are  and  rail  they  have  to  the  maintenance 
of  that  cause  which  had  a  cross  and  carpenter's  son  for  its  com- 
mencement, but  has  a  throne  of  glory  and  the  Prince  of  the  kings 
of  the  earth  for  its  blessed  and  certain  issue. 

Not  all  the  baptized  are  Christ's  soldiers  and  fighting  under 
his  banner.  What  terrible  deception  prevails  among  thousands 
in  this  one  respect !  How  many  tell  you  in  the  prison  where 
their  crimes  have  placed  them,  that  they  have  been  regenerated 
and  renewed  because  they  have  been  baptized  !  In  the  face  of 
fact  they  assert  so  —  in  the  face  of  the  word  of  God  they  assert 
Ro;  for  we  are  told  there  that  a  man  may  be  a  "Jew  outwardly," 
but  not  a  "  Jew  indeed."  "  Circumcision,"  we  are  warned,  "  is 
not  of  the  letter,  but  of  the  spirit."  I  believe  that  there  are  two 
great  fatal  errors  on  this  point;  and  here  you  will  see  where  all 
the  essence  of  Popery  lies.  What  does  the  Roman  Catholic 
church  daily  and  hourly  do  ?  It  declares  that  Ihe  bread  upon  the 
altar  is  indeed  the  literal  flesh  and  blood,  soul  and  divinity,  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  in  other  words,  that  the  priest  offers  up 
Christ  bodily.  What  does  the  Tractarian  divine  do?  He  just 
does  with  Baptism  what  the  Roman  Catholic  has  done  with  the 
Lord's  Supper.  He  says  practically  that  the  water  is  turned  into 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  The  Romanist  says  the  Eucharist  is 
turned  into  the  body  and  blood,  soul  and  divinity  of  Christ.  The 
Tractarian  says,  by  implication  at  least,  the  water  in  the  baptismal 
font  is  turned  into  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  Romanist  wishes  to 
change  the  bread  into  Christ  as  the  foundation  of  his  righteous- 
ness; the  Tractarian  wishes  to  change  the  water  into  the  Spirit 
of  God  as  the  foundation  of  his  regeneration.  But  is  it  the  fact 
that  the  one-  is  thus  justified  or  the  other  thus  sanctified  ?  Ask 
the  chaplains  of  our  goals  —  ask  the  keepers  and  turnkeys  of  our 
prisons ;  and  they  will  tell  you  that  those  goals  and  bridewells 
are  crowded  by  men  who  have  been  sprinkled  by  baptism,  as  well 
as  those  who  have  not  been  baptized ;  those  who  think  they  have 
received  this  rite  from  the  true  succession,  and  those  that  never 
dreamed  of  it;  giving  clear  and  irresistible  evidence  that  you 
may  be  baptized  in  any  form  that  the  genius  of  man  can  devise, 
but  unless  the  Spirit  of  God  change  the  heart,  you  have  but  a 
name  to  live  by,  whilst  you  are  dead.    The  great  cause,  I  believe, 


THE  SOLDIERS  OF  CHRIST.  147 

of  the  error  on  the  subject  of  baptism  has  arisen  from  a  gross 
misconception  of  the  real  state  of  man.  Man,  by  the  fall,  as  I 
have  often  said  before,  has  not  merely  come  under  a  slight  aber- 
ration from  his  original  state  :  if  the  fall  in  paradise  were  simply 
a  blow  that  stunned  humanity,  then,  certainly,  I  do  not  see  why 
a  little  water  sprinkled  upon  his  brow  should  not  revive,  resusci- 
tate, and  restore,  and  enable  him  to  walk  with  God  again,  as 
Adam  walked  with  him  in  paradise ;  but  if  the  statement  of  God's 
word  be  true,  that  it  is  not  a  mere  stun  that  has  come  upon 
humanity,  but  that  man  is  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  then  I 
appeal  to  your  common  sense  for  an  answer  to  ray  query.  Who 
can  raise  the  dead  ?  None  but  that  voice  which  shall  ring 
through  the  graves  of  the  dead,  and  echo  in  the  homes  of  the 
living,  and  raise  the  dead  and  change  the  living,  can  quicken 
man's  dead  soul,  and  give  a  new  heart,  and  restore  us  to  God,  to 
holiness,  and  to  happiness.  Not,  therefore,  all  the  baptized  are 
Christ's  soldiers  and  gain  this  victory :  and,  in  the  next  plac^, 
let  me  add,  not  every  communicant  is  enlisted  under  Christ's 
banner.  There  are  worthy  and  there  are  unworthy  communi- 
cants ;  there  are  those  who  come,  in  the  language  of  Augustine, 
and  drink  that  wine  with  their  lips  and  eat  that  bread  with  their 
teeth,  but  never  receive  the  blessing  nor  the  benefit  of  the  pur- 
chase of  the  cross  of  Christ.  You  may  depend  on  it  that  there 
has  not  been  since  Christ  instituted  the  Lord's  Supper  a  pure 
communion-table,  nor  will  there  be  while  it  lasts ;  and  therefore, 
if,  instead  of  getting  agitated  and  plunging  into  all  sorts  of 
extravagances  in  order  to  find  the  pure  Church,  you  would  pray, 
each  for  himself,  that  the  Spirit  of  God  would  renew  your  own 
hearts,  the  pure  Church  would  be  far  more  quickly  hastened  than 
by  the  process  that  many  now  pursue.  Not  all  communicants, 
then,  are  the  people  of  God ;  because  there  are  unworthy  as  well 
as  worthy  communicants.  In  short,  not  all  that  seem  outwardly 
the  children  of  God  are  so  really.  It  is  perfectly  possible  to 
attend  religious  meetings  in  the  month  of  May,  in  Exeter  Hall, 
to  read  and  support  religious  newspapers,  and  yet  not  be  Chris- 
tians ;  it  is  perfectly  possible  to  contribute  largely  to  the  spread 
of  the  Gospel  and  the  maintenance  of  its  machinery,  and  to  do  it 
from  false  motives  and  for  impure  and  unhallowed  ends :  in  one 


148  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

word,  to  have  a  name  to  live  by  and  yet  to  be  dead — to  have  the 
Torm  of  godliness  without  its  power  —  to  be  eulogized  by  man  as 
the  very  perfection  of  Christianity,  and  yet  to  be  denounced  in 
heaven  as  an  alien  and  a  stranger  to  the  cross,  and  an  ally  of 
Satan,  and  an  enemy  of  Christ. 

I  have  thus,  then,  shown  you  the  negative  signs  —  those  who 
are  not  under  Christ's  banner,  and  who  therefore  cannot  be  said 
to  overcome;  let  me  now  endeavour  to  show  you,  in  the  next 
place,  the  positive  signs  of  those  who  do  overcome,  and  who 
therefore  obtain  a  right  to  the  tree  of  life.  I  quote  two  texts 
extremely  expiressive  on  this  point ;  they  are  from  the  Epistles 
of  John  :  "  Whosoever  is  born  of  God  overcometh  the  world ; 
and  this  is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the  world,  even  our  faith." 
And  again  he  says  in  another  place,  ''  Who  is  he  that  overcometh 
the  world,  but  he  that  believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God  ?" 
You  must  have  noticed,  in  reading  the  Epistles  of  John — written 
by  the  same  hand  that  wrote  the  Apocalypse,  and  inspired  by  the 
same  Holy  Spirit, — that  the  victory  over  the  world,  the  victory 
over  sin  and  Satan,  is  to  be  achieved  mainly,  if  not  wholly,  through 
the  instrumentality  of  faith.  That  man,  therefore,  who  has  true 
and  lively  faith  in  God  —  who  has  trust  and  confidence  in  Christ 
Jesus — who  receives  His  word  and  rests  upon  it — who  leans  upon 
His  sacrifice  —  who  obeys  His  commandments  —  who  anticipates 
His  future  glory — he  has  the  victory  that  overcometh  the  world. 
You  may  ask,  perhaps.  In  what  respect  does  faith  enable  us  to 
overcome  the  world  ?  I  answer,  it  is  thus  :  "  Faith  reveals  to  us 
things  which  are  invisible  to  sense ;  for  the  eye,  and  the  ear,  and 
the  touch  come  in  contact  only  with  things  material  and  above 
the  horizon  by  which  our  world  is  bounded ;  but  faith  sees  beyond 
the  horizon;  its  eye  penetrates  the  ever-involving  clouds,  and 
beholds  in  the  midst  of  the  battle,  God  its  Father,  Christ  its 
Saviour,  the  Holy  Spirit  its  Sanctifier ;  and  it  becomes  so  real  to 
a  Christian,  that  this  faith  is  to  him  ''  the  substance  of  things 
hoped  for,  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen,"  And  so  it  enables 
him  to  overcome  the  world. 

Again,  faith  is  thus  an  element  of  victory,  because  it  shows  to 
the  Christian  greater  csccllences  in  his  Lord,  and  in  the  Gospel 
which  that  Lord  has  revealed    than  in  all  the  world  besides. 


THE  SOLDIERS  OF  CHRIST.  149 

When  sense  loses  friends,  and  money,  and  estates,  it  sits  down 
and  weeps,  and  despairs  or  commits  suicide.  When  faith  loses 
the  world,  or  money,  or  friends,  or  home,  it  then  begins  to  sing 
the  paean  of  victory,  which  shall  be  perpetuated  in  the  realms  of 
glory,  and  which  was  begun  by  Christ  when  he  was  made  in  the 
likeness  of  sinful  flesh.  Here  now  is  faith,  which  is  the  victory 
that  overcometh  the  world.  "  Although  the  fig-tree  shall  not 
blossom,  neither  shall  fruit  be  in  the  vine ;  though  the  labour  of 
the  olive  shall  fail,  and  the  field  shall  yield  no  meat;  though  the 
flocks  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  fold,  and  there  be  no  herd  in  the 
stalls ;" — a  Stoic  would  say,  "  I  will  neither  feel  nor  mourn  ;"  the 
Epicurean  would  say,  "  I  will  make  the  best  of  it,  and  try  to  get 
something  else  as  a  substitute  for  what  I  have  lost;"  humanity 
would  sit  down,  and  wring  its  hands,  and  despond;  but  Chris- 
tianity spreads  her  wings,  and  lifts  her  heart,  and  says  what  the 
inspiration  of  her  God  alone,  and  faith  in  that  God,  can  help  her 
to  sing,  —  "  yet  will  I  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  and  glory  in  the  God 
of  my  salvation."  And  this  faith  is  the  victory  that  overcomes 
the  world.  Faith  is  to  the  soul  what  the  telescope  is  to  the  eye ; 
it  brings  things  that  are  remote  to  be  as  though  they  were  near. 
Hence,  when  there  is  true  faith  in  the  Christian's  heart,  it  en- 
ables him  to  see  that  God  is  not  a  distant  God,  but  a  near  God ; 
that  Christ  is  not  a  distant  Saviour,  but  a  near  Saviour ;  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  not  a  distant  Sanctifier,  but  a  Sanctifier  within 
him;  that  things  which  are  distant  to  his  sense  are  near  as  they 
are  dear  to  a  Christian's  neart.  And  thus  faith  enables  him, 
looking  upon  eternity  as  near,  to  tread  down  time  as  insignificant 
in  comparison. 

But  there  is  another  characteristic  of  faith,  that  accounts  for 
its  being  the  victory  that  overcomes  the  world.  Faith  has  been 
called  by  old  divines  "  the  appropriating  grace."  It  is  that  grace 
which  receives  and  appropriates  to  itself  all  that  God  has  made 
known ;  and  if  it  does  so,  it  needs  no  great  calculation  to  show 
you  that  such  faith  must  overcome  the  world.  Faith  sees  God  as 
ray  Father — Christ  as  my  Saviour — the  Spirit  as  my  Sanctifier — 
heaven  as  my  home — eternity  as  my  hope ; — Christ's  strength  as 
mine  to  sustain  me  —  Christ's  wisdom  as  mine  to  guide  me  — 
Christ's  heart  as  mine  to  sympathise  with  me  —  Christ's  wing  as 

13  « 


150  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

mine  to  shelter  me ;  —  and  thus  faith  becomes  the  victory  that 
overcomes  the  world. 

Again,  faith  triumphs  in  difficulties ',  the  greater  the  difficulty, 
the  more  faith  triumphs.  It  is  the  law  of  sense,  that  the  greater 
the  difficulty  the  more  it  desponds;  it  is  the  law  of  faith,  that 
the  greater  the  difficulty  the  more  manfully  it  meets  it.  Thus, 
for  instance,  sense  says,  "  My  sins  are  like  the  crimson  in  their 
dye,  and  like  the  purple  in  their  hue,  and  I  have  therefore  no 
hope  of  heaven."  Faith  replies,  "Though  your  sins  be  like 
crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool ;  and  though  they  be  as  purple, 
they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow."  Sense  says,  "  Heaven  is  far 
away,  and  I  do  not  know  the  road,  and  shall  stumble  in  the  way, 
or  I  shall  miss  the  path,  and  I  shall  never  get  to  heaven."  Faith 
answers,  in  the  tones  her  Master  taught  her,  "  I  am  the  way,  the 
truth,  and  the  life ;  him  that  cometh  unto  me  I  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out."  God  says,  "  Sarah  shall  have  a  son ;"  sense  burSts 
into  laughter  at  the  absurdity  of  it ;  faith  believes  the  promise, 
and  Abraham  becomes  the  father  of  all  them  that  believe.  Sense 
says,  "We  do  not  know  what  to  do;"  but  faith  says,  "Our  eyes 
are  toward  God;"  and  God  answers  from  the  skies,  what  faith 
returns  in  echoes  of  triumph,  "  Stand  still,  and  see  the  salvation 
of  God." 

Thus  it  is,  then,  that  faith  is  the  victory  that  overcomes  the 
world.  I  would  only  state  to  you,  that  if  you  wish  to  see  the 
idea  of  which  I  have  given  you  the  merest  outline  worked  out 
with  great  power,  great  splendour  of  imagery,  great  depth  of 
thought,  let  me  ask  you  to  read  Archdeacon  Hare's  "  Victory  of 
Faith."  It  is  a  work  full  of  rich  and  beautiful  thought.  Some 
things  there  are  in  it,  perhaps,  about  which  we  may  diffijr,  but  it 
is,  in  the  main,  admirably  calculated  to  edify  and  instruct.  He 
and  Trench,  and  others,  constitute  a  new  type  or  class  of  divines 
who  are  appearing  in  the  Church  of  England.  I  hope  they  will 
not  lean  too  much,  as  it  is  feared  some  do,  towards  Genuany,  as 
the  divines  on  the  other  side  lean  too  far  towards  Rome.  Per- 
haps it  is  God's  design  that  they  shall  balance  each  other,  and 
that  the  result  shall  be  the  old  evangelical  truth  proclaimed  by  a 
Latimer,  preached  and  riveted  by  a  Cranraer,  and,  blessed  be 
God,  found  in  all  denominations  of  true  Christians  at  this  mo- 


THE  SOLDIERS  OF  CHRIST.  151 

ment,  and  so  a  revival  greater  than  ever  Las  been  since  the 
blessed  lleformation. 

I  need  not  quote  to  you  instances  of  those  who  by  faith  have 
overcome  the  world.  Abel  is  one  of  the  earliest  specimens. 
Cain,  personating  sense,  presented  on  the  altar  the  loveliest 
flowers,  and  thought  that,  from  their  fragrance  and  their  beauty, 
these  would  be  the  best  sacrifice.  Faith,  in  Abel,  conscious  of 
its  sins,  took  a  Iamb  and  shed  its  blood,  because  it  trusted  in  the 
Lamb  of  God  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  Enoch 
overcame  the  world,  for  he  walked  with  God  amidst  the  opposi- 
tion of  the  world.  Noah  overcame  the  world,  for  he  believed 
God  when  the  world  laughed  at  his  predictions,  and  built  the  ark 
whilst  the  world  uttered  its  sneers,  overcoming  the  world  by  faith. 
Abraham  overcame  the  world,  when  he  left  his  own  land  and  went 
forth  not  knowing  whither  he  was  going,  only  knowing  this,  that 
God  had  prepared  for  him  a  city  in  the  skies,  whose  builder  and 
maker  is  God.  Moses  overcame  the  world  when  he  refused  to  be 
called  a  monarch's  son,  and  despised  the  riches  which  wduld 
accrue  from  being  connected  with  a  monarch's  prime  minister, 
preferring,  nobly  preferring,  affliction  with  the  people  of  God, 
rather  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  that  were  but  for  a 
season. 

But  let  me  explain  one  or  two  more  of  the  features  of  the 
soldiers  of  Christ.  First,  we  are  told  in  Scripture,  that  those 
who  belong  to  Christ  and  overcome  the  world  are  they  who  arc 
"chosen  in  Christ  before  the  foundation  of  the  world."  If  you 
ask  me  to  explain  the  doctrine  of  election — I  answer,  I  cannot ; 
if  you  ask  me  to  harmonize  it  with  man's  responsibility — I  can- 
not. I  read  this,  and  I  cannot  dispute  it — "chosen  in  Christ 
before  the  foundation  of  the  world;"  not  because  God  foreknew 
they  would  be  holy,  but  in  order  that  they  might  be  holy.  And 
again  :  "  Elect  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God,  through 
sanctification  of  the  Spirit  and  belief  of  the  truth."  Only  suffer 
me  to  say,  that  election  in  the  Bible  and  election  in  our  Scotch 
confession  of  faith  seem  to  me  very  differently  stated,  though,  no 
doubt,  they  mean  the  same  thing.  The  one  is  hard,  dry,  and 
metaphysical,  almost  rationalistic — the  other  always  accompanied 
with  great  practical  truths,  and  solemn  responsibilities  and  duties ; 


152  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

the  one  man's  planting,  the  other  God's  inspiring.  Those,  then, 
that  overcome  the  world  are  chosen  in  Christ  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world ;  and,  secondly,  they  who  are  on  Christ's  side, 
and  overcome  the  world,  are  "  purchased  by  Christ."  You  are 
not  your  own ;  you  are  redeemed  with  the  precious  blood  of  a 
Lamb  without  blemish  and  without  spot.  What  a  solemn  truth 
is  this  !  We  are  not  our  own.  Man  says,  "  I  can  do  what  I  like 
with  my  own."  You  have  just  one  thing  that  is  your  own,  and 
that  one  thing  is  your  sin.  Your  souls  are  not  your  own,  for  God 
says,  "  All  souls  are  mine."  Your  life  is  not  your  own,  you  can- 
not fix  the  day  when  you  will  give  it  up,  and  no  human  being 
fixed  the  day  when  that  life  was  bestowed.  I  have  often  thought 
that  when  man  is  awake  he  feels  that  his  life  is  his  own ;  but 
when  you  lie  down  and  fall  asleep,  does  it  not  seem  to  you  as  if 
you  had  let  go  your  grasp  of  life — as  if  your  life  were  then  loose, 
as  it  were  ?  When  you  retire  to  bed  in  the  evening,  it  seems  the 
foretaste  of  death — then  you  let  go  life,  and  it  remains  with  God 
whether  your  heart  shall  beat  in  eternity  or  beat  in  time  the  next 
day.  We  are  not  our  own.  Your  money  is  not  your  own ;  the 
image  and  the  superscription  of  Christ  is  on  it  all.  Your  influ- 
ence is  not  your  own.  We  are  stewards,  not  proprietors ;  we  have 
not  even  a  lease  of  anything;  we  are  tenants  from  year  to  year, 
from  month  to  month,  from  day  to  day.  We  have  no  lease  of 
life,  still  less  a  freehold ;  we  have  no  inherent  property  in  any- 
thing we  possess.  God  puts  his  hand  into  the  midst  of  them,  but 
(blessed  be  his  name  !)  it  is  a  Father's  hand,  and  takes  the  lamb 
from  the  midst  of  your  family  into  his  own  bosom ;  he  commands 
the  hurricane  to  enter  your  shop  or  your  counting-house,  and 
sweeps  from  you,  because  he  has  other  uses  for  it,  all  you  have 
accumulated.  God  sends  his  angel,  who  breathes  upon  you  as  he 
passes,  and  you  are  laid  upon  a  sick-bed.  Nothing  is  our  own ; 
all  is  God's ;  the  responsibility  only  is  ours  of  consecrating  it  to 
his  glory,  or  desecrating  it  to  the  service  of  sin,  of  Satan,  and 
of  the  world. 

Again,  those  who  are  on  Christ's  side  and  fighting  under  his 
banner,  and  who  have  overcome  the  world,  are  those  who  have 
fled  to  him  and  sought  acceptance  from  him  through  his  precious 
blood.     A  Christian  is  one  running  from  himself,  and  seeking 


THE  SOLDIERS  OF  CHRIST.  153 

refuge  in  Jesus  —  who  rests  upon  the  cross  —  who  believes  in 
Jesus  —  who  has  confidence  in  the  Bible,  and  expects,  through 
that  confidence  in  hira,  forgiveness  of  sin,  holiness,  happiness, 
and  joy.  What  a  blessed  truth  is  that,  that  God  is  our  Father ! 
I  sometimes  wish  I  could  invent  a  few  new  words,  in  order  to 
express  more  fully  and  forcibly  my  ideas.  I  am  perfectly  sure 
of  this,  that  much  of  our  sermons  fail  in  their  purpose,  just 
because  the  words  in  which  we  express  our  ideas  are  so  common 
that  they  roll  off  like  dew-drops  from  the  green  leaf,  without 
leaving  the  least  lasting  impression  behind.  The  words  we 
employ  are  so  common,  so  hackneyed,  that  we  fail  to  perceive  the 
expressiveness  and  beauty  of  the  meaning.  Let  us  try  to  realise 
this  thought,  that  God  is  our  Father,  loving  us  infinitely  more 
than  we  ever  can'or  shall  love  him.  It  is  worthy  of  observation, 
that  all  affections  grow  intenser  in  their  descent,  not  in  their 
ascent ;  a  father  loves  his  child  far  more  strongly  than  that  child 
loves  its  father.  Now,  God  is  the  great  Father  —  he  is  our 
Father ;  and  that  Father  would  do  for  us  infinitely  more  than  you 
fathers,  being  evil,  would  do  for  your  children.  He  himself  tells 
you,  "  If  ye,  being  evil,"  with  all  your  sins,  with  all  your  imper- 
fections, with  all  your  passions,  with  all  your  prejudices,  "will 
give  good  gifts  to  your  children,"  because  you  love  them,  "  how 
much  more  will  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven  give  "  —  what  ? 
not  faith,  not  grace,  not  glory,  but  Deity  himself,  "  the  Holy 
Spirit,  unto  them  that  ask  him  ?"  What  a  precious  truth  is  this  ! 
May  we  realise  it,  make  it  our  own,  and  live  upon  it;  and  so  our 
life  will  be  the  blessed  life. 

And  in  the  next  place,  they  that  are  Christ's  soldiers,  and 
conquer  in  his  strength,  are  those  that  cleave  to  Christ's  word.  I 
look  upon  this  as  a  most  important  test  in  the  present  day;  it 
may  be  that  articles  are  good,  that  confessions  of  faith  are  good, 
that  liturgies  are  expedient;  this  may  be;  but  it  is  quite  certain 
that  no  articles,  nor  creed,  nor  confession,  nor  liturgy  is  fit  to  be 
the  rule  of  faith.  God's  word  alone  is  our  directory.  Whatever 
is  within  the  boards  of  the  Bible  is  obligatory  upon  you  and  me, 
as  if  God  bowed  the  heavens  and  spoke  at  this  moment.  What- 
ever is  outside  the  boards  of  the  Bible,  however  popular,  however 
plausible,  however  eloquent,  you  may  receive  or  you  may  reject 


154  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

as  you  please,  it  does  not  touch  your  responsibility  to  God,  or 
your  hopes  of  everlasting  happiness.  The  Christian  takes  God's 
word  as  his  infallible  directoiy,  as  his  lamp  from  the  throne 
shining  in  a  dark  place.  He  receives  it  not  as  a  dogma  for  dis- 
cussion, as  a  theory  for  dispute,  as  a  problem  for  solution,  but  as 
a  truth  for  hearty  reception.  Hence,  it  has  always  seemed  to 
me  the  essence  of  folly,  to  hear  a  man  open  the  Bible,  and  say, 
God  says  this,  and  now  I  will  prove  it  to  you.  What  is  the  use 
of  proving  what  God  has  said  ?  We  prove  propositions  that  are 
human  :  we  accept  truths  that  are  divine.  We  may  elucidate  or 
explain,  by  comparing  Scripture  with  Scripture,  but  to  say.  This 
is  my  text,  and  I  will  now  prove  it,  is  to  bring  a  glow-worm  to 
add  to  the  splendours  of  the  meridian  sun,  the  conjectures  of  man 
to  strengthen  the  testimony  of  God.  Hence,  those  that  are 
Christ's  soldiers,  and  fight  under  his  banner,  cleave  close  to  his 
word,  and  evermore  appeal  to  it  in  all  those  disputes  in  which 
one  good  man  says  this,  and  another  good  man  says  that.  The 
old  Scotch  Covenanter's  request  on  hearing  a  theological  contro- 
versy, "  Rax  me  the  Bible,"  was  truly  Protestant.  If  the  con- 
troverted dogma  be  not  there,  it  is  no  concern  of  ours  :  if  it  be 
there,  bow  before  it  as  an  order  from  the  Most  High,  and  fear 
not  the  silly  charge  of  bibliolatry. 

And  the  last  feature  I  will  notice  of  those  who  are  Christ's 
soldiers  is,  they  love  the  Saviour  with  all  their  heart ;  and  when 
there  is  love  in  the  heart,  there  is  always  light  in  the  head,  and 
direction  to  the  feet,  because  they  that  love  Christ  need  no 
diagram  of  duty,  no  human  directory,  no  binding  law,  for  love  is 
the  fulfilment  of  the  law.  Those  who  are  thus  fighting  under 
Christ's  banner  are  some  in  Europe,  some  in  Asia,  some  in  Africa, 
some  in  America,  some  in  Australia;  some  are  on  the  Equator 
in  burning  sands  and  parched  deserts,  or  amid  the  frozen  ledges 
of  Iceland,  or  in  the  regions  of  perpetual  snow ;  colour  and  clime 
have  nothing  to  do  with  God's  relationship  to  us,  or  our  relation- 
ship to  him.  Some  are  in  palaces,  some  in  huts,  some  in  cata- 
combs, some  in  prisons,  some  in  subterranean  mines;  some  are 
upon  the  steppes  of  Tartary,  and  some  on  the  mountains  of  Swit- 
zerland ;  some,  like  Abel,  were  neither  circumcised  nor  baptized ; 
some,  like  David,  were  circumcised  but  not  baptized ;  some,  like 


THE  SOLDIERS  OF  CHRIST.  155 

Paul,  were  both  circumcised  and  baptized ;  and  some,  like  Luther, 
baptized,  but  not  circumcised;  and  some,  with  no  baptism  of 
man,  but  with  the  consecration  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

Such  are  sure  of  the  victory.  Christ  intercedes  for  them ;  the 
Spirit  intercedes  within  them;  angels  minister  to  them;  all 
things  work  for  their  good ;  circumstances  may  vary  their  con- 
dition, but  they  cannot  rend  their  union  and  communion  with 
their  Lord.  Sodom  blazes  behind  them,  but  Jerusalem  shines 
before  them  from  afar,  and  all  the  thunders  and  the  voices  and 
the  cries  of  dissolving  dynasties  and  crumbling  thrones  are  but 
the  settling,  not  the  overturning  of  the  foundation,  on  which 
they  stand  secure  as  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  omnipotence  of 
God. 

Now,  those  who  are  on  Christ's  side  and  thus  overcome,  shall, 
it  is  said,  be  admitted  to  the  tree  of  life.  This  tree  I  have  de- 
scribed in  previous  lectures,*  and  I  need  not,  therefore,  repeat 
anything  I  have  said.  I  merely  add  this,  that  that  tree  which 
was  lost  in  Paradise  the  first,  shall  be  replanted  and  bloom  for 
ever  in  Paradise  the  second.  The  meaning  of  the  promise  is, 
that  they  who  believe  in  Jesus  and  overcome  the  world  through 
his  blood,  shall  partake  of  and  inherit  unceasing,  everlasting  life. 
It  denotes  the  perpetuity  of  this  life,  "  they  shall  live  for  ever 
and  ever."  No  wintry  cloud  shall  overshadow  them,  no  earth- 
quake or  hurricane  shall  uproot  them,  no  lightning  shall  blast, 
and  no  tornado  shall  scathe  them.  The  source  of  their  life  is 
beyond  the  reach  of  mutability  or  change.  It  denotes,  too,  nutri- 
ment. Man  is  a  creature;  the  highest  angel  in  heaven  is  a 
creature ;  he  has  no  inward,  inherent,  aboriginal  spring  of  life ; 
and  therefore  the  statement,  that  believers  shall  eat  of  the  tree 
of  life,  denotes  that  in  heaven  their  life  shall  be,  what  it  was  on 
earth,  a  derived  life,  not  original  and  inherent.  It  may  also  de- 
note that  all  believers  shall  gather  round  that  central  object  and 
form  one  happy,  holy,  and  inseparable  group  for  ever.  And  the 
promise — "  I  will  (/ive  xxnto  him  that  overcometh  to  eat  of  the 
Tree  of  Life,"  is  evidence  that  it  is  not  of  merit,  but  by  grace. 

And  now  let  me  notioe,  in  closing  my  remarks  upon  the  address 

*  See  Apocalyptic  Sketches,  second  series. 


156  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

to  the  Epliesian  Church,  that  the  proinise  is  here  distinct  from 
the  rest  of  the  epistle :  It  is  said,  "  To  him  that  overcometh," 
which  shows  that  the  Church  itself  would  not  overcome.  He  first 
states  the  excellences  of  the  Church,  he  then  mentions  its  defi- 
ciencies, and  he  says  to  her  "that  unless  she  repents  he  will 
remove  her  candlestick  out  of  its  place,"  i.  e.  he  will  cause  her 
existence  as  a  Church  to  cease.  In  order  to  show  how  this  pre- 
diction has  been  fulfilled,  I  will  read  you  a  short  account  of  the 
history  and  present  state  of  that  Church. 

"  Ephesus. — This  celebrated  city,  anciently  the  metropolis  of 
Proconsular  Asia  or  Ionia,  now  called  Natolia,  was  situated  about 
forty  miles  south-east  of  Smyrna,  and  five  miles  from  the  ^T^gean 
Sea,  on  the  sides  and  at  the  foot  of  a  range  of  mountains  over- 
looking a  fine  plain,  watered  and  fertilized  by  the  river  Cayster. 
It  was  considered  a  maritime  city,  and  is  said  to  have  been  built 
by  Androclus,  the  son  of  Codrus,  king  of  Athens,  as  early  as  the 
time  of  David.  It  henceforth  occupied  a  distinguished  place 
among  the  twelve  confederated  Ionian  cities  of  Asia  Minor. 
From  the  remotest  period,  Ephesus  was  celebrated  for  a  temple 
of  Diana,  hence  called  the  Ephesian  goddess. 

"  The  inhabitants  of  Ephesus  were  distinguished  more  by  their 
voluptuousness  and  their  traflac,  than  by  their  taste  for  learning 
or  philosophy.  They  are  also  said  to  have  been  addicted  to  sor- 
cery and  such  like  arts.  What  were  called  the  '  Ephesian  letters' 
appear  to  have  been  magical  symbols  inscribed  on  the  crown, 
girdle,  and  feet  of  the  statue  of  Diana,  in  the  great  temple  ;  and 
it  was  believed  that  whoever  pronounced  them  had  forthwith  all 
that  he  desired.  In  the  Apostolic  times,  Ephesus  was  in  its 
glory,  and  its  streets  resounded  with  the  shouts,  '  Great  is  Diana 
of  the  Ephesians  1'  (Acts  xix.  28 — 34.)  When  St.  Paul  visited 
the  city,  and  a  tumult  in  consequence  arose,  the  town-clerk,  or 
principal  magistrate,  made  the  following  speech  :  —  'Ye  men  of 
Ephesus,  what  man  is  there  that  knowcth  not  how  that  the  city 
of  the  Ephesians  is  a  worshipper  of  the  great  goddess  Diana,  and 
of  the  image  which  fell  down  from  Jupiter  ?  Seeing,  then,  that 
these  things  cannot  be  spoken  against,  ye  ought  to  be  quiet,  and 
do  nothing  rashly.     For  ye  have  brought  hither  these  men,  who 


THE  SOLDIERS  OF  CHRIST.  157 

are  neither  robbers  of  churches,  nor  yet  blasphemers  of  your 
goddess.'  The  tradition  here  referred  to,  that  the  image  of  Diana 
originally  fell  from  heaven,  has  induced  some  to  conjecture  that 
it  might  have  contained  an  aerolite  or  atmospheric  stone ;  but 
the  pretence  was  by  no  means  peculiar  to  Ephesus.  The  Palla- 
dium of  Troy,  and  the  image  of  Minerva,  were  said  to  have 
dropped  from  the  clouds,  and  the  sacred  shield  of  the  Romans 
was  given  in  a  similar  manner  in  the  reign  of  Numa  Pompilius. 
This  imposture,  zealously  propagated  by  the  mythological  priests, 
that  the  statues  at  the  shrines  of  which  they  ministered  were  the 
gifts  of  the  celestial  divinities,  was  early  introduced  into  the 
Clyistian  Church,  when  it  became  infected  by  the  leaven  of 
superstition,  and  the  legends  of  the  monkish  writers  of  commu- 
nications from  the  Virgin  and  the  Apostles  are  not  behind  those 
which  they  imitated  in  pretensions  to  the  miraculous.  A  similar 
origin  to  that  of  the  Ephesian  Diana  has  been  claimed  for  the 
shrine  of  our  Lady  of  Loretto,  in  Italy;  and  Pope  John  I. 
marched  out  of  the  city  of  Rome  in  solemn  procession  to  receive 
a  picture  of  the  Virgin,  which  was  devoutly  believed  to  have 
been  suspended  in  the  air  over  the  city  for  a  considerable  time. 

"  St.  Paul  resided  at  Ephesus  for  three  years,  and  founded  a 
Church  (Acts  xx.  31),  which  was  sound  in  doctrine,  and  upright 
in  discipline  and  practice  during  his  life ;  but  after  the  martyr- 
dom of  the  Apostle,  the  Ephesian  Church  declined,  and  its 
bishop  was  solemnly  warned  to  '  repent  and  do  the  first  works.' 
Trophimus,  an  eminent  disciple  of  St.  Paul,  who  accompanied 
him  on  many  of  his  journeys,  was  a  native  of  Ephesus  j  and  it 
is  conjectured  that  Tychicus,  the  bearer  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Church,  and  of  that  to  the  Colossians,  was  so  likewise.  In  A.  D. 
57,  the  Apostle,  sailing  from  Assos  to  Tyre,  appointed  the  elders 
and  presbyters  of  the  Ephesian  Church  to  meet  him  at  Miletus, 
at  which  port  he  intended  to  touch,  not  having  time  to  visit  their 
city.  This  interview  was  of  an  affecting  nature,  and  evinces  the 
strong  attachment  which  his  residence  among  them  had  produced. 
He  told  them  on  that  occasion,  that  they  would  see  his  face  no 
more  —  that  after  his  departure,  grievous  wolves  would  enter  in 
among  the  flock ;  and  he  anxiously  exhorted  those  who  had  the 
oversight  thereof,  to  feed  the  Church  of  God.     (Acts  xx.  28.) 

14 


158  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

"  Irenaeus  and  Eusebius  relate  a  tradition,  that  St.  John  wrote 
his  three  Epistles  at  Ephesus,  between  the  comuiencement  of  the 
Jewish  war  and  the  final  subjugation  of  Palestine,  when  he  first 
arrived  and  took  up  his  residence  in  the  city.  Some  of  the  Fa- 
thers affirm,  that  the  beloved  disciple  was  accompanied  into  Asia 
Minor  by  the  Virgin  Mary,  who  resided  at  Ephesus,  where  she 
is  said  to  have  been  buried.  In  A.  D.  142,  Justin  Martyr  visited 
Ephesus,  and  held  on  that  occasion  his  celebrated  conversation 
on  Christianity  with  Trypho,  who  is  mentioned  by  Eusebius  as 
the  most  eminent  Jew  of  his  time.  At  the  close  of  the  second 
century,  we  find  Polycrates,  the  bishop  of  Ephesus,  engaged  in 
a  controversy  respecting  the  observance  of  Easter,  which  threat- 
ened the  extinction  of  all  kindly  feeling  between  the  parties. 

"  The  celebrated  story  of  the  Seven  Sleepers,  related  by  Gibbon, 
is  connected  with  Ephesus.  During  the  furious  persecution  of 
the  Christians  carried  on  by  the  Emperor  Decius,  seven  noble 
Ephesian  youths  concealed  themselves  in  a  cave  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  city,  where  they  were  immured  by  the  tyrant.  '  They 
immediately  fell  into  a  deep  slumber,'  says  Gibbon,  '  which  was 
miraculously  prolonged,  without  injuring  the  powers  of  life, 
during  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  years.  This 
popular  tale,  which  Mohammed  might  have  learned  when  he 
drove  his  camels  to  the  fairs  of  Syria,  is  introduced  as  a  Divine 
relation  into  the  Koran.  The  story  of  the  Seven  Sleepers  has 
been  adopted  and  adorned  by  the  nations  from  Bengal  to  Africa, 
who  profess  the  Mohammedan  religion,  and  some  vestiges  of  a 
similar  tradition  have  been  discovered  in  the  remote  extremities 
of  Scandinavia.' 

"  In  A.  D.  431,  the  heads  of  the  Church,  in  obedience  to  the 
imperial  mandate,  repaired  to  Ephesus,  and  deposed  Nestorius, 
the  bishop  of  Constantinople.  The  prelate  was  degraded  from 
his  ecclesiastical  dignities,  and  confined  in  a  monastery.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  sixth  century,  Ephesus,  like  other  Asiatic 
Churches,  had  lost  almost  every  trace  of  its  *  first  love,'  and  the 
streams  of  Divine  truth  circulated  by  St.  Paul,  St.  John,  and 
Polycarp,  became  gradually  corrupted  by  error  and  superstition. 
'  At  this  era,'  says  Mr.  Milner,  '  the  number  of  monks  multiplied 
prodigiously  in  the  East,  invited  to  inaction  and  repose  by  ita 


«HE  SOLDIERS  OF  CHRIST.  159 

warm  climate  and  sunny  skies ;  and  the  myrtle-crowned  valleys 
of  Asia  Minor  were  crowded  with  fanatics,  eager  to  arrive  at 
spiritual  perfection  by  the  constant  practice  of  bodily  ease.  The 
north,  with  its  snows  and  mountains,  had  indeed  its  monasteries, 
but  the  greatest  hive  was  in  the  East,  where  the  balmy  breezes 
and  ever-ripening  fruits  ministered  to  sensual  gratification.  The 
religious  flocked  to  the  plains  of  Syria  to  dream  away  existence, 
and  the  beautiful  valleys  of  Greece  and  Anatolia  swarmed  with  a 
race  whose  pretensions  to  piety  were  laziness  and  superstition.' 

"  In  1764,  when  Ephesus  was  visited  by  Dr.  Chandler,  '  its 
population  consisted  of  a  few  Greek  peasants,  living  in  extreme 
wretchedness,  dependence,  and  insensibility;  the  representatives 
of  an  illustrious  people,  and  inhabiting  the  wreck  of  their  great- 
ness,—  some,  the  substructure  of  the  glorious  edifices  which  they 
raised)\some  beneath  the  vaults  of  the  stadium,  once  the  crowded 
scene  of  their  diversions.  We  heard  the  partridge  call  in  the 
area  of  the  theatre  and  of  the  stadium.  The  glorious  pomp  of  its 
heathen  worship  is  no  longer  remembered ;  and  Christianity,  which 
was  there  nursed  by  Apostles  and  fostered  by  general  councils, 
until  it  increased  to  fulness  of  stature,  barely  lingers  on  in  an 
existence  hardly  visible.  On  approaching  it  from  the  wretched 
village  of  Aiasaluch,  a  few  scattered  fragments  of  antiquity  occur; 
and  on  the  hill  above,  some  traces  of  the  former  walls,  and  a 
solitary  watch-tower,  mark  the  extent  of  the  city. 

"  At  some  distance  are  the  remains  of  the  theatre  in  which 
Demetrius  raised  the  tumult  against  St.  Paul ;  but  of  the  once 
famous  temple  of  Diana  not  a  stone  is  seen,  except  perhaps  a  few 
arches  on  the  morass,  which  are  conjectured  to  have  supported 
it.  *A  more  thorough  change,'  says  Mr.  Emerson,  '  can  scarcely 
be  conceived,  than  that  which  has  actually  occurred  at  Ephesus. 
Once  the  seat  of  active  commerce,  the  very  sea  has  shrunk  from 
its  solitary  shores ;  its  streets,  once  populous  with  the  devotees 
of  Diana,  are  now  ploughed  over  by  the  Ottoman  serf,  or  browsed 
by  the  sheep  of  the  peasant.  It  was  early  the  stronghold  of 
Christianity,  and  stands  at  the  head  of  the  Apostolic  Churches 
of  Asia.  It  seems  that  there,  as  St.  Paul  says,  '  the  word  of  God 
grew  mightily  and  prevailed.'  Not  a  single  Christian  now  dwells 
within  it;  its  mouldering  arches  and  dilapidated  walls  merely 


160  THE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

•whisper  the  tale  of  its  glory;  and  it  requirefS  the  acumen  of  the 
geographer,  and  the  active  scrutiny  of  the  exploring  traveller,  to 
form  a  probable  conjecture  as  to  the  actual  site  of  the  first  wondei 
of  the  world. 

"  The  same  writer  continues  to  observe  :  *  The  present  state  of 
Ephesus  affords  a  striking  illustration  of  the  accomplishment  of 
prophecy.  Ephesus  is  the  first  of  the  Apocalyptic  Churches  ad- 
dressed by  the  Evangelist  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ;  his  charge 
against  her  is  a  declension  in  religious  fervour  (Rev.  ii.  4),  and 
his  threat  in  consequence  (Rev.  ii.  5),  a  total  extinction  of  her  ■' 
ecclesiastical  brightness.  After  a  protracted  struggle  with  the 
sword  of  Rome  and  the  sophisms  of  the  Gnostics,  Ephesus  at  last 
gave  way. 

''  The  incipient  indifference  censured  by  the  warning  voice  of 
the  Prophet  increased  to  a  total  forgetfulncss,  till  at  length  the 
threatcnings  of  the  Apocalypse  were  fulfilled,  and  Ephesus  sunk 
with  the  general  overthrow  of  the  Greek  empire  in  the  fourteenth 
century.  * 

"  The  plough  has  passed  over  the  city ;  and  when  visited,  in 
March  1826,  by  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Hartley  and  Arundell,  green 
corn  was  growing  in  all  directions  amidst  the  forsaken  ruins;  and 
one  solitary  individual  only  was  found  who  bore  the  name  of 
Christ,  instead  of  its  once  flourishing  Church.  Where  once 
assembled  thousands  exclaimed,  ''  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephc- 
sians !"  now  the  eagle  yells,  and  the  jackal  moans.  The  soil  of 
the  plain  on  which  the  ruins  of  Ephesus  lie  appears  rich :  in  the 
summer  of  1835,  when  visited  by  Mr.  Addison,  it  was  covered 
with  a  rank  burnt-up  vegetation.  'This  place,'  he  states,  'is  a 
dreary  uncultivated  spot ;  a  few  corn-fields  were  scattered  along 
the  site  of  the  ancient  city,  which  is  marked  by  some  large  masses 
of  the  shapeless  ruins  and  stone  walls.' " 

What  does  all  this  teach  us  ?  That  the  Gospel  in  the  midst 
of  a  city  is  the  strength,  the  glory,  and  the  stability  of  it.  The 
moment  that  her  love  left  the  Church  of  Ephesus,  her  ships  left 
her  harbours,  her  soldiers  deserted  her  standard,  her  ancient  and 
illustrious  buildings  crumbled  into  ruins,  and  p]phesus  alone, 
therefore,  is  a  standing  evidence  that  it  is  the  church  of  God,  in 


THE  SOLDIERS  OF  CHRIST.     *  161 

Old  England's  heart,  that  is  the  secret  of  the  splendour  of  the 
diadem  that  is  around  the  Queen  of  England's  brow.  It  is 
Christianity  among  the  people  that  is  the  grand  secret  of  all  our 
prosperity  and  greatness.  It  is  not  protectionism,  it  is  not  free 
trade,  that  is  the  substance  of  our  commerce,  the  glory  and  the 
secret  of  our  agricultural  prosperity ; — it  is  the  Gospel  alone ;  and 
he  who  becomes  a  Christian  himself  and  seeks  to  spread  what  he 
feels  among  those  that  are  around  him,  does  more  to  advance  our 
country  in  its  loyalty,  in  its  integrity,  in  its  strength,  in  its  riches, 
in  its  commerce,  in  its  manufactures,  in  its  agriculture,  than  all 
the  eloquent  speeches  made  the  one  way  or  the  other  within  the 
walls  of  parliament.  It  is  by  righteousness  that  a  nation  stands ; 
it  is  by  sin  that  it  descends  to  its  tomb.  I  have  confidence  in  the 
Gospel,  and  confidence  in  that  alone ;  and  I  believe,  that  when 
the  hurricane  swept  over  Europe,  and  kings  were  bowed  before 
it  as  the  grass  before  the  breeze  —  when  the  earthquake  heaved, 
and  convulsed  great  empires,  and  shattered  strong  and  ancient 
thrones,  it  was  not  the  guns  that  were  concealed  behind  the  walls 
of  our  great  public  buildings,  nor  those  bayonets  that  bristled  in 
the  sun,  nor  those  noble  bands  that  crowded  our  streets  and  were 
ready  when  specially  summoned  specially  to  act,  that  saved  us ; 
but  it  was  that  our  people  had  within  them,  as  a  body,  indirectly 
and  directly,  that  love  to  God  which  is  the  secret  of  true  and 
lasting  loyalty.  As  Ephesus  lost  her  commerce  when  she  lost  her 
Christianity,  so  London  will  lose  hers  if  ever  she  lose  living  reli- 
gion in  the  midst  of  her.  There  is  already  too  little  Christianity, 
and  too  much  room  for  more;  instead  of  Christian  churches 
quartering  with  each  other,  and  Christian  ministers  setting  them- 
selves in  opposition  to  each  other,  all  ought  to  labour  as  one.  We 
want  double  the  number  of  churches  and  chapels  of  every  de- 
scription ;  and  I  wish  we  could  bring  into  them,  not  visitors  from 
other  communions  and  chapels,  but  men  who  are  heathens  and 
know  not  what  Christ  and  his  Gospel  are.  Let  us  feel  that 
churches  will  stand  in  the  present  day,  not  by  the  excellence  of 
their  ecclesiastical  polity,  nor  by  the  patronage  of  the  state,  nor 
by  the  endowment  of  the  queen,  nor  by  the  votes  of  the  people ; 
but  by  their  allegiance  to  Christ,  by  their  adherence  to  duty,  by 
their  sufierings  for  truth.     Our  churches  are  secured,  not  by  the 

14  « 


162  TUE  CHURCH  OF  EPHESUS. 

splendour  of  their  liturgies,  nor  by  the  eloquence  of  their 
preachers,  or  the  multitude,  or  the  grandeur,  or  the  nobility  of 
those  that  visit  them ;  but  only  by  their  faithfulness  to  God, 
their  sacrifices  for  his  cause,  their  sympathies  with  his  people. 
Men  may  talk  about  the  succession,  but  I  feel  that  this  will  bo 
found  the  frailest  reed  in  the  universe  when  the  ordeal  comes ; 
for  the  time  draws  near  when  men  will  see  that  that  is  the  best 
Church  and  the  most  apostolic  Church  that  has  the  most  apostolic 
charity  —  that  that  is  the  best  minister  who  preaches  divine  ser- 
mons and  lives  a  divine  life  —  and  that  is  the  best  congregation 
which  does  most  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  which  it  has  first 
tasted  in  all  its  sweetness  and  realized  in  all  its  power. 


LECTURE  X. 


TRIALS. 


"  And  unto  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Smyrna  write ;  These  things  saith 
the  first  and  the  last,  which  was  dead,  and  is  alive;  I  know  thy  works,  and 
tribulation,  and  poverty  (but  thou  art  rich),  and  I  know  the  blasphemy  of  them 
which  say  they  are  Jews,  and  are  not,  but  are  the  synagogue  of  Satan." — 
Rev.  ii.  8,  9.  i 

The  great  Head  and  Bishop  of  the  Churches  here  introduces 
himself  in  a  character,  and  clothed  with  attributes,  suited  to  the 
condition  of  the  Church  to  which  he  directs  the  Epistle.  In  his 
address  to  the  Church  at  Ephesus,  he  introduces  himself  as  "  he 
that  holdeth  the  seven  stars  in  his  right  hand,  and  walketh  in  the 
midst  of  the  seven  golden  candlesticks ;"  and  it  will  be  found  that 
this  preface  to  the  Epistle  is  in  harmony  with  the  statements 
contained  in  the  body  of  it.  In  this,  the  Epistle  to  the  Church 
of  Smyrna,  or  rather  to  the  angel,  the  bishop,  or  archbishop,  or 
presbyter  —  the  presiding  minister  or  officer  of  that  Church,  and 
through  him  to  the  whole  body  of  the  faithful  constituting  that 
congregation  or  Church,  the  great  Author  introduces  himself  as 
"  the  first  and  the  last,  which  was  dead,  and  is  alive  again."  No 
one  can  fail  to  see  that  there  is  an  obvious  contradiction,  if  looked 
at  in  the  light  of  human  reason,  in  such  an  assumption  as  "  the 
first  and  the  last."  It  strikes  you  at  once  that  no  one  can  be  the 
first  and  yet  be  the  last ;  if  he  be  the  one,  you  argue,  he  cannot 
be  the  other.  This  is  perfectly  true  of  man,  because  all  that  can 
be  predicated  of  man  comes  within  the  range  of  sense  or  the  realm 
of  understanding ;  but  when  we  come  to  speak  of  God,  it  will  be 
found  that  what  are  contradictions  when  applied  to  the  creature, 
are  great  and  glorious  harmonies  when  heard  respecting  Him 
who  filleth  all  in  all  with  the  majesty  of  his  glory. 

(163) 


164  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

This  reminds  me  of  an  objection  frequently  urged  against  the 
doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  by  persons  of  a  sceptic  or  infidel  turn  of 
mind.  They  say,  "  We  cannot  believe  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  because,"  they  allege,  "  we  cannot  comprehend  it."  No 
doubt,  you  cannot  comprehend  it.  Your  inference  from  these 
premises  would  be  logical  were  that  inference  from  things  within 
the  cognisance  of  our  senses;  but  it  is  an  inference  from  premises 
beyond  the  cognisance  of  our  senses,  and  therefore  as  rash  as  it 
is  irreverent  and  wrong.  You  say,  you  will  not  believe  what  you 
cannot  comprehend.  Are  you  aware  that  you  cannot  look  above, 
beneath,  around,  within,  without  stumbling  upon  a  thousand 
things  that  you  cannot  comprehend  ?  For  instance,  you  believe 
that  there  is  such  a  being  as  a  God ;  you  will  not  accept  the 
Christian's  God ;  but  still  no  man  is  such  a  fool,  such  an  arrant 
fool,  as  to  pretend  to  believe  that  there  is  no  God.  Any  creed  is 
possible;  no  creed  is  impossible.  You  admit,  then,  there  is  a 
God ;  you  must  feel  that  if  there  be  a  God,  he  is  omnipresent, 
eternal,  omniscient.  Now,  you  say  the  doctrine  of  the  trinity  is 
incomprehensible,  therefore  you  reject  it;  will  you  allow  me  to 
follow  up  your  reasoning  with  reasoning  perfectly  parallel  ?  The 
doctrine  of  omnipresence,  the  doctrine  of  eternity,  is  just  as 
incomprehensible  as  the  doctrine  of  the  trinity,  and  therefore  you 
are  bound  to  deny  that  there  is  such  a  being  as  an  omnipresent 
or  eternal  God. 

Let  me  ask  you,  if  I  address  any  such,  How  much  do  you  com- 
prehend of  eternity  ?  You  can  understand  quite  clearly  a  being 
that  lives  a  thousand  years,  ten  thousand  years,  or  a  being  that 
lives  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  years ;  but  what  do  you 
comprehend  of  this,  that  when  millennia  have  rolled  on  millennia, 
and  cycles  have  accumulated  on  cycles,  that  being  is  no  nearer 
the  end  and  no  farther  from  the  beginning,  than  when  you  first 
began  to  think  about  the  subject?  You  cannot  comprehend  one 
atom  of  eternity. 

Again,  what  do  you  comprehend  of  omnipresence  ?  You  can 
understand  that  a  person  is  here — you  can  comprehend  the  idea 
of  a  person  who  is  there ;  but  what  comprehension  have  you  of  a 
Being  who  is  here,  and  there,  and  everywhere?  —  whose  shining 
footprints  are  the  planets  —  whose  circumference  is  nowhere  — 


•   •  TRIALS.  165 

whose  centre  is  everywhere  ?  what  do  you  comprehend  of  him  ? 
Nothing.  Then,  if  you  allege,  that  because  you  cannot  compre- 
hend trinity  in  unity  —  because  you  cannot  comprehend  how 
Christ  can  be  the  First  and  yet  be  the  Last,  be  Alpha  and  yet  be 
Omega,  be  God  and  yet  be  man,  be  impassible  and  yet  a  suftcrer, 
be  immortal  and  yet  die,  be  the  prince  of  life  and  yet  the  victim 
of  death,  be  the  sovereign  of  the  universe  and  yet  be  the  tenant 
of  a  grave, —  if  you  cannot  comprehend  all  this  by  your  own 
admission,  do  not  argue,  that  because  you  cannot  comprehend  the 
attributes  of  Deity  as  these  are  revealed  in  the  Bible,  that  there- 
fore you  will  not  believe  in  them,  or  in  Him  whose  they  are.  If 
men  will  not  believe  what  they  cannot  comprehend,  they  will 
have  to  believe  only  what  they  taste,  and  see,  and  touch,  and 
smell,  and  nothing  more ;  they  will  have  to  live  merely  as  ani- 
mals—  they  will  cease  to  believe  that  they  are  spiritual  in  their 
life,  and  immortal  in  their  destiny. 

But  revelation  is  first  proved  to  be  from  God,  and  then  what 
revelation  clearly  asserts,  it  becomes  the  creature  implicitly  to 
accept;  and  then  whether  we  can  comprehend  trinity  in  unity, 
or  not, —  whether  we  can  comprehend  how  Christ  can  be  the  first 
and  yet  be  the  last  at  the  same  time,  or  not,  God  has  spoken  — 
all  objections  must  instantly  come  to  an  end.  Our  Lord,  there- 
fore, introduces  himself  here  as  the  first.  He  that  saw  the  stars 
shoot  into  their  spheres,  suns  bud  and  begin  their  burning 
course  —  he  that  saw  the  universe  in  its  cradle,  and  will  see  its 
funeral  —  he  who  was  the  first  before  all  —  he  who  is  the  last 
behind  all — condescends  thus  to  write  to  a  Church,  and  to  say  to 
her,  "I  know  thy  tribulation  and  thy  poverty,  and  also  thy 
wealth."  In  one  word,  Christ  here  introduces  himself  as  the 
everlasting  one.  The  ephemeral  insect  of  a  day,  and  the  Alps 
that  have  stood  upon  their  foundations  from  the  creation  of  the 
world  —  the  stars  that  looked  upon  Adam  and  Eve  in  paradise, 
and  upon  thrones  and  dynasties  that  were  erected  yesterday — are 
all  equally  short-lived,  when  compared  with  Him  who  is  the  First 
and  the  Last,  who  was  dead  and  is  alive.  He  is  both  God  and 
man:  man  to  suffer,  because  suffering  was  our  doom;  God  to 
satisfy,  because  without  such  satisfaction  there  could  be  no  salva- 
tion.    It  is  here  stated,  "  He  was  dead :"  "  without  shedding  of 


166  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

blood  there  is  no  remission  of  sins."  He  died  that  we  might 
live.  What  a  truth  !  The  Lord  of  glory,  the  Living  One,  came 
down  from  that  throne  around  which  angel  and  archangel  soar, 
and  sing,  and  worship  perpetually;  and  without  any  reason  but 
my  ruin  —  without  any  object  except  the  salvation  of  disloyal, 
rebellious,  guilty  criminals,  he  followed  us  to  our  grave,  clasped 
us  to  his  bosom,  and  will  not  leave  us  till  the  meanest  inhabitant 
of  earth  is  made  the  magnificent  heir  of  a  crown  of  glory.  Oh, 
the  height  and  depth,  the  breadth  and  length,  of  the  love  of  God 
in  Christ  Jesus !  But  he  died ;  and  if  he  had  not  died,  we 
should  have  never  lived.  But  he  also  lived,  and  is  alive  for  ever- 
more; if  he  had  not  lived,  our  death  had  never  ceased.  He  was 
dead,  and  is  alive.  Christ's  death  rendered  our  salvation  possi- 
ble —  Christ's  life  makes  that  salvation  actual.  He  applies  from 
his  throne  what  he  purchased  on  his  cross.  If  Christ  had  never 
died,  our  sin  had  never  been  forgiven ;  if  Christ  had  not  risen, 
his  purchase  had  never  been  applied.  Easter  Sunday  is  as  pre- 
cious as  Good  Friday.  His  resurrection  from  the  tomb  is  as  vital 
and  essential  an  article  in  a  Christian's  creed  as  his  agony  and 
bloody  sweat,  and  his  agonizing  cry  in  his  last  moments,  "  It  is 
finished,"  when  he  bowed  his  head,  and  gave  up  the  ghost.  We 
have  in  Christ  a  complete  Saviour  —  a  living  Saviour,  who  was 
dead,  and  is  alive,  and  livett  for  evermore  to  make  intercession 
for  us. 

Such  is  the  preface  to  this  Epistle.  Let  us  next  examine  the 
body  of  this  Epistle.  It  is  an  autograph  of  Christ ;  it  is  an  epistle 
that  he  himself  hath  sealed  and  sent  to  a  portion  of  the  Church 
universal.  He  says,  "  I  know  thy  works,  and  tribulation,  and 
poverty  (but  thou  art  rich),  and  I  know  the  blasphemy  of  them 
which  say  they  are  Jews,  and  are  not." 

"I  know  thy  tribulation."  The  world  knows  it  not.  The 
world  has  no  experience  of  or  sympathy  with  a  Christian's  tribu- 
lation ;  the  world  cannot  comprehend  it ;  it  cannot  appreciate  or 
understand  the  inward  consolation  he  experiences  under  it.  A 
Christian  sufiering  is  a  mystery  to  the  world,  and  a  Christian 
rejoicing  is  no  less  so.  A  Christian  grieves  at  what  the  world 
cares  nothing  for,  and  rejoices  at  what  the  world  can  see  no  hap- 
piness in.     The  world  knoweth  us  notj  as  it  knew  him  not :  but 


'  TRIALS.  -  167 

Christ  says,  "  I  know  thy  tribulation  :"  and  how  does  he  know 
it  ?  Not  as  a  spy,  nor  as  an  inquisitor,  but  as  one  who  bows  from 
the  heavens  to  express  and  to  make  real  and  felt  in  our  hearts 
his  sympathy  and  fellow-suifering  with  us.  "  I  know  thy  tribu- 
lation." But  how  does  he  know  it  ?  He  knows  it  inasmuch  as 
he  permits  or  directly  sends  our  tribulation.  Do  you  ever  think 
of  this,  that  there  is  no  tribulation  that  can  come  to  a  Christian, 
let  it  be  a  headache  or  a  heartache — let  it  be  fever,  consumption, 
and  decay  —  let  it  be  the  departure  of  a  babe  or  the  death  of  a  ♦ 
parent — let  it  be  the  loss  of  property  or  the  desertion  of  friends 
— no  tribulation  can  touch  a  Christian,  that  Christ  sends  not  for 
high,  holy,  wise,  and  beneficent  purposes.  Now  what  a  bright 
view  of  tribulation  does  this  give  to  a  Christian  ?  That  tribula- 
tion which  comes  like  the  hurricane,  or  falls  upon  you  like  the 
crushing  weight  of  the  avalanche,  has  been  in  the  bosom  of 
Christ,  and  has  been  inspired  by  the  love,  and  is  commissioned 
by  the  hand  of  Christ,  before  it  touches  you.  There  is  no  chance 
in  this  world.  All  things,  good  and  bad,  prosperous  and  adverse, 
have  their  commission  or  their  permission,  at  all  events  their 
control,  direction,  and  overruling  issue,  in  Him  who  is  the  First 
and  the  Last,  who  was  dead  for  our  sins,  and  alive  again  for  our 
justification.  But  he  not  only  knows  our  tribulation,  but  he 
knows  also  the  necessity  of  it.  Is  any  Christian  afilicted  ?  There 
is  what  the  Apostle  beautifully  calls  "  a  needs  be."  Whatever  be 
the  affliction — its  nature,  weight,  bitterness,  poignancy — and  each 
man  knows  his  own  heart's  bitterness  most  thoroughly — it  would 
not  be  there  if  it  was  not  just  as  necessary  for  thee,  my  brother, 
as  that  Christ  should  die  and  rise  again.  Thus,  affliction,  what- 
ever it  be,  however  poignant,  however  bitter,  however  inexplicable 
it  may  appear,  or  however  strange  it  may  seem  to  you,  is  needful 
for  you ;  it  is  just  as  necessary  that  that  man  should  lose  his  pro- 
perty, or  that  woman  should  lose  her  child,  or  that  that  home 
should  be  stripped  and  made  desolate,  for  that  man  or  that 
woman's  salvation,  as  that  Christ  should  come  down  from  a  throne 
of  glory  and  die  upon  the  cross  to  make  atonement  for  your  sins. 
It  is  no  accident  that  has  interposed  to  disturb  the  harmony  of 
the  universe.  It  is  a  link,  and  an  essential  link,  in  that  chain 
wWch  lifts  you  from  your  ruin,  and  leaves  you  not  till  it  lays  you 


168  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

amid  the  splendours  of  the  beatific  vision,  where  there  shall  be 
no  more  sorrow  or  suffering,  but  all  things  become  new,  and  there 
shall  bo  no  more  death  nor  crying  nor  pain.  You  do  not  com- 
plain of  submitting  to  a  painful  surgical  operation,  if  that  opera- 
tion is  pronounced  by  medical  skill  to  be  needful.  Why  then 
should  you  murmur  or  repine  when  you  are  visited  with  sore 
affliction  or  tribulation,  when  that  tribulation  is  necessary,  not  for 
the  safety  of  a  limb,  but  for  the  salvation  of  a  soul ;  not  for  tem- 
poral ease,  but  for  everlasting  joy?  On  the  cup  that  is  bitterest, 
on  the  blow  that  is  severest,  on  the  shock  that  is  most  appalling, 
there  is  written,  and  the  eye  of  faith  can  read  it  through  its  tears, 
"  it  needs  be,"  and  if  there  were  no  needs  be,  depend  upon  it 
you  would  never  have  felt  it. 

But  Christ  knows  not  only  the  necessify  of  it,  but  he  knows 
also  the  prectOM.sHcss  of  it,  and  the  vdhie  of  it  to  him  who  is 
visited  by  it.  He  knows  your  tribulation  not  only  as  it  is  neces- 
sary, but  he  knows  it  also  in  order  to  comfort  you  under  it. 
Affliction  is  to  a  Christian  quite  a  different  thing  from  what  it  is 
to  a  man  of  the  world :  every  man  in  this  assembly  who  is  not  a 
child  of  God,  or  who  has  not  clear  and  satisfactory  evidence  for 
believing  that  he  is  so,  must  believe  that  his  affliction  is  penal. 
But  every  man  who  knows  he  is  a  child  of  God,  and  is  indeed 
so,  is  satisfied  that  his  affliction,  whatever  it  be,  is  paternal.  The 
difference  is  tremendous.  Paternal  affliction  is  the  chastisement 
of  royal  sons  whom  a  Father  is  preparing  for  a  glorious  throne : 
penal  affliction  is  the  visitation  of  a  judge  descending  upon  a 
criminal  driven  to  his  doom, — the  first  drops  of  that  ocean  of 
wrath  into  which  they  shall  be  plunged,  or  into  which  rather  they 
are  plunging  themselves  to  suffer  and  die  for  ever.  A  believer's 
tribulation,  therefore,  whatever  it  may  be,  is  chastisement;  and 
that  very  chastisement  which  he  feels  so  poignant  is  eloquent 
with  precious  lessons.  "  If  ye  were  without  chastisement,  you 
would  not  bo  sons."  "  What  son  is  he  whom  the  Father  chasteneth 
not  ?"  It  is  in  the  sunshine  of  prosperity  that  we  see  least  of 
God;  it  is  in  the  midst  of  tribulation,  in  the  darkness  of  the 
densest  night,  that  the  pillar  of  fire  marches  in  our  van,  and 
brightens  the  darkness  with  the  presence  of  Him  who  was  dead 
and  is  alive,  who  is  the  first  and  the  last,  the  beginning  and  *he 


/-'       •'     TRIALS.  169 

end.  The  daylight  lias  one  sun,  but  night  has  a  thousand  suns  : 
prosperity  has  some  comforts,  when  it  is  the  prosperity  of  a 
Christian ;  but  adversity,  when  it  is  the  adversity  of  a  child  of 
God,  has  joys  and  hopes  and  comforts  that  shine  like  the  very 
canopy  of  the  city  of  God. 

Christ  not  only  knows  our  tribulation  to  comfort  us  under  it, 
but  he  knows  also  the  perils  of  it — "  I  know  thy  tribulation  j"  I 
know  its  needs  be ;  I  know  the  comfort  that  you  require  under 
it ;  I  know  also  the  perils  that  accompany  it.  There  are  perils 
in  adversity,  just  as  there  are  perils  in  prosperity.  One  knows  ' 
not  in  which  there  are  most.  It  is  therefore  a  very  beautiful 
prayer  of  the  wise  man,  "  Give  me  not  poverty,  lest  I  should 
steal ;  give  me  not  riches,  lest  I  should  be  proud  and  forget  God." 
Give  me  neither  the  trials  of  the  one  nor  the  temptations  of  the 
other  J  but,  if  it  please  thee,  "feed  me  with  food  convenient  for 
me."  When  our  Lord  was  tried  and  tempted,  Satan  came  to  him, 
and  showed  him  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  and  all  their  glory, 
and  oifered  to  make  him  lord  over  all,  if  he  would  only  fall  down 
and  worship  him. 

It  is  when  we  are  in  prosperity  that  Satan  bids  us  "  worship 
our  own  net  and  burn  incense  to  our  own  drag."  It  is  when  we 
are  in  adversity  that  Satan  says  to  us,  "  If  you  will  only  do  a  dis- 
honest thing  —  if  you  will  only  try  that  trick  —  if  you  will  only 
have  recourse  to  that  equivocal  and  evasive  conduct, —  then  you 
will  get  rich,  and  increase  in  goods."  That  is  the  trial  of  adver- 
sity. That  man,  however,  who  can  repel  the  tempter,  and  say, 
"  Get  thee  behind  me," —  who  can  say  with  the  prophet  of  old, 
"  Although  the  fig-tree  shall  not  blossom,  neither  shall  fruit  be 
in  the  vines;  the  labour  of  the  olive  shall  fail,  and  the  fields  shall 
yield  no  meat ;  the  flock  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  fold,  and  ther# 
shall  be  no  herd  in  the  stalls ;  yet  will  I  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  and 
glory  in  the  God  of  my  salvation,"  — he  feels  that  God  is  with 
him,  and  thus  it  matters  little  who  may  be  against  him. 

But  Christ  knows  our  tribulation  also,  expressly  in  order  to 
sympathise  with  it.  I  need  not  tell  you  that  when  there  is  no 
hope  of  escape,  the  only  consolation  in  the  midst  of  imprisonment 
and  trial  and  affliction  is  sympathy  from  one  who  truly  feels  for 
us  and  feels  with  us.     There  is  nothing  more  softening  in  the 

15 


170  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

experience  of  humanity  than  to  have  one  that  will  respond  in 
sympathy  to  us — to  have  one  heart  that  will  reflect  our  suffering 
and  our  sorrow,  and  enable  us  to  feel  that,  however  intense  our 
agony  may  be,  it  is  an  agony  that  is  not  with  us  alone,  but  that 
there  is  a  responsive  sympathy  in  the  bosom  of  others  that  are 
near  us.  Let  me  speak  to  the  humblest,  poorest,  meanest  tenant 
of  a  cellar  in  this  assembly  this  night,  if  that  poor,  humble, 
afflicted  one  be  a  child  of  God,  and  tell  him  there  is  an  electric 
chain  between  his  heart  and  the  heart  of  Him  that  sits  upon  the 
throne,  the  First  and  the  Last ;  and  between  that  poor  afflicted 
one's  heart,  and  the  heart  of  Him  who  is  the  Alpha  and  Omega, 
there  is  a  chord  which  vibrates  with  a  ceaseless  and  perpetual 
sympathy,  so  that  "  we  have  not  an  high  priest  which  cannot  be 
touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities,  but  one  who  was 
tempted  in  all  points  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin," — one  who 
"  in  all  our  affliction,"  to  use  the  language  of  the  prophet,  "  was 
afflicted."  There  is  not  a  stroke  that  smites  a  son  which  has  not 
its  echo  in  the  skies — there  is  not  a  sorrow  or  reproach  that  falls 
upon  a  Christian  which  has  not  its  rebound  beside  the  throne. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  solitary  Christian.  Kings  may  despise 
him;  great  men,  rich  men,  celebrated  men,  may  forsake  him; 
but  angels  encamp  about  him,  God's  eye  is  upon  him  in  the 
height  and  in  the  depth,  Christ's  heart  sympathises  with  him : 
he  is  not  alone,  for  the  Saviour  says,  "  I  am  with  thee." 

Such  then  is  the  practical  view  to  be  taken  of  the  Lord's 
address  to  the  Church  of  Smyrna,  "  I  know  thy  tribulation." 
Tribulation  is  as  necessary  for  a  Church  as  it  is  for  an  individual. 
Tribulation  that  contributes  to  the  sanctification  of  the  one,  con- 
tributes to  the  progress  in  holiness  of  the  other.  It  reveals 
^omises  that  are  otherwise  concealed,  and  makes  righteousness 
spring  in  the  desert,  and  brings  us  into  contact  with  Him  in 
whom  dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  God,  and  who  ever  liveth  to 
intercede  for  and  to  sympathise  with  us. 

As  addressed  to  the  angel  of  the  Church  of  Smyrna,  this  lan- 
guage must  have  been  specially  consolatory.  It  has  been  sup- 
posed that  Polycarp,  who  was  the  immediate  friend  of  John,  was 
at  this  time  the  angel,  or  bishop,  or  presiding  minister  of  the 
Church  at  Smyrna,  and  that  this  language  was  addressed  to  him 


TRIALS.  171 

in  the  first  instance,  and  through  him  to  the  Church  of  which  he 
was  the  exponent,  in  order  to  comfort  him  in  the  midst  of  a 
tribulation,  persecution,  and  affliction  which  that  Church  was 
called  upon  to  endure.  In  order  to  show  that  it  was  so,  I  will 
read  an  extract  explanatory  of  the  treatment  received  by  Polycarp, 
who  was  at  that  time,  as  I  have  said,  the  minister  or  bishop  of  the 
Church  to  whom  these  words  of  consolation  are  addressed  :  — 

"  Polycarp,  on  hearing  that  the  persecutors  of  the  Christian 
name  were  in  pursuit  of  him,  and  that  escape  was  all  but  impos- 
sible, said,  '  The  will  of  the  Lord  be  done.'  On  being  arrested, 
Irenaaus  relates  that  he  prayed  ardently  in  the  midst  of  his  ene- 
mies, and  so  full  was  he  of  the  grace  of  God,  that  he  could  not 
cease  speaking  for  two  hours,  during  which  time  he  made  earnest 
petitions  for  all  whom  he  had  ever  known,  small  and  great,  noble 
and  vulgar,  and  of  the  whole  Church  of  Christ  throughout  the 
world.  Upon  being  brought  before  the  tribunal,  the  proconsul, 
respecting  his  dignities  (for  he  was  a  Bishop  of  the  Church)  and 
his  advanced  age  (for  he  was  more  than  eighty),  and  desirous  to 
save  him,  urged  him,  saying,  '  Swear,  and  I  will  release  thee. 
Reproach  Christ.'  Polycarp  answered :  *  Eighty  and  six  years 
have  I  served  him,  and  he  hath  never  wronged  me;  and  how  can 
I  blaspheme  my  King  who  hath  saved  me  ?'  The  proconsul, 
judging  his  efforts  unavailing,  sent  the  herald  to  proclaim  in  the 
midst  of  the  assembly,  '  Polycarp  hath  professed  himself  a  Chris- 
tian.' At  that  hated  name,  the  multitude,  both  of  Gentiles  and 
Jews,  unanimously  shouted  that  he  should  be  burned  alive.  The 
business  was  executed  with  all  possible  speed,  for  the  people  im- 
mediately gathered  fuel  from  the  workshops  and  baths,  in  which 
employment  the  Jews  distinguished  themselves  with  their  usual 
malice," — a  remarkable  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  in  the  text, 
that  those  who  said  "  they  were  Jews  and  were  not,"  ("  all  were 
not  Israel  who  were  of  Israel,")  should,  as  "  the  synagogue  of 
Satan,"  take  an  active  part  in  the  persecutions  of  the  Christian 
Church  during  this  period.  "  As  soon  as  the  fire  was  prepared, 
Polycarp  stripped  off  his  clothes  and  loosed  his  girdle ;  but  when 
they  were  about  to  fasten  him  to  the  stake,  he  said,  '  Let  me  re- 
main as  I  am,  for  He  who  giveth  me  strength  to  sustain  the  fire, 
>vill  enable  me  also,  without  your  securing  me  with  nails,  to  re- 


172  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

main  unmoved  in  the  fire.'  Upon  which  they  bound  him,  with- 
out nailing  him;  and  he,  putting  his  hands  behind  him,  and 
being  bound  as  a  distinguished  ram  selected  from  the  great  flock, 
a  burnt  offering  acceptable  to  God  Almighty,  said,  '  0  Father  of 
thy  beloved  and  blessed  Son  Jesus  Christ,  through  whom  we  have 
attained  the  knowledge  of  thee, — 0  God  of  angels,  principalities, 
and  of  all  creation,  and  of  all  the  just  who  live  in  thy  sight, — I 
bless  thee  that  thou  hast  counted  me  worthy  of  this  day  and  of 
this  hour,  to  receive  my  portion  in  the  number  of  the  martyrs  in 
the  cup  of  Christ,  for  the  resurrection  to  eternal  life,  both  of  soul 
and  body;  among  whom  may  I  be  presented  before  thee  this  day 
as  a  sacrifice  well  savoured  and  acceptable,  which  thou,  the  faith- 
ful and  true  God,  hast  prepared,  promised  beforehand,  and  ful- 
filled accordingly.  Wherefore,  I  praise  thee  for  all  these  things ; 
I  bless  thee,  I  glorify  thee,  by  the  eternal  High  Priest,  Jesus 
Christ,  thy  well-beloved  Son,  through  whom,  with  him  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  be  glory  to  thee,  both  now  and  for  ever.' " 
"  Polycarp  was  apprehended  by  Herod,  under  Philip,  the  Trallian 
Pontifex,  Statius-Quadratus  being  Proconsul,  but  Jesus  Christ 
reigning  for  ever ;  to  whom  be  glory,  honour,  majesty,  an  eternal 
throne,  from  age  to  age." 

I  quote  this  to  show  you  the  treatment  received  by  the  first 
minister  of  the  Church  of  Smyrna,  as  a  specimen  of  the  tribula- 
tion which  the  Church  had  to  pass  through  in  its  transit  to  im- 
mortality and  glory. 

After  having  given,  then,  some  sketch  of  the  tribulations  of 
the  Church  of  Smyrna,  and  shown  that  her  cross  was  no  painted 
toy,  but  a  real  crucifixion,  and  that  through  that  cross  she  had  to 
pass  to  her  crown,  we  are  informed  next  of  her  poverty.  "  I 
know  thy  tribulation,  and  thy  poverty."  The  poor  are  perpe- 
tually with  us ;  it  is  an  ordinance  of  God,  "  the  poor  shall  never 
cease  out  of  the  land."  The  day  will  never  come  when  all  shall 
be  equal, — when  all  shall  be  rich,  or  all  shall  be  poor.  There 
are  inequalities  in  nature ;  there  must  be  inequalities  in  provi- 
dence. But  poverty  is  no  shame  :  we  read  of  our  blessed  Lord, 
that  "  though  rich,  for  our  sakes  he  became  poor,  that  we  through 


TRIALS.  173 

his  poverty  might  bo  made  rich."  Rags  are  no  disgrace ;  lawn 
is,  in  itself,  no  honour.  The  poor  are  not  to  infer  they  are  for- 
saken of  God  because  they  are  poor ;  the  rich  are  not  to  suppose 
they  are  accepted  of  God  because  they  are  rich  ;  nor  are  you  to 
conclude  that  he  alone  is  the  liberal  man  who  gives  the  pounds, 
and  that  he  has  no  liberality  who  gives  only  the  pence.  There 
may  be  large  liberality  in  the  heart,  when  the  hand  has  no  means 
of  expressing  it;  and  there  may  be  apparent  liberality  in  the 
hand,  when  there  is  narrowness  and  poverty  indeed  in  the  heart 
within.  God  judges  of  liberality,  not  by  the  gift  in  the  hand, 
but  by  the  grace  in  the  heart ;  not  by  what  a  man  can  do,  but 
by  what  a  man  is  truly  willing  to  do.  The  mite  which  is  the 
exponent  of  a  gracious  heart,  rises  like  incense  to  the  skies, 
acceptable  through  Jesus  Christ;  the  thousand  which  is  the  mere 
exponent  of  vanity  and  thirst  for  ^cldt,  is  hateful  in  the  sight  of 
God,  and  unprofitable  in  the  experience  of  man.  While  it  was 
said  of  this  Church,  she  was  indeed  poor,  "  but,"  in  another 
sense,  it  is  added,  "  thou  art  rich."  In  what  sense  was  she  rich  ? 
In  that  sense  in  which  the  Apostles  were  "poor,  yet  making 
many  rich;  having  nothing,  and  yet  possessing  all  things." 
There  is  a  wealth  which,  in  the  sight  of  God,  is  poverty ;  and 
there  is  a  poverty  which,  in  the  sight  of  God,  is  inestimable 
riches.  Riches  that  God  looks  at  are  such  as  these, — "  the  riches 
of  goodness" — "  the  treasures  of  wisdom  and  knowledge" — "  the 
riches  of  his  grace"  —  "  the  riches  of  glory"  —  "  the  riches  of 
his  inheritance  in  the  saints;"  "He  is  the  heir  of  all  things;" 
"  in  him  all  fulness  dwells."  These  are  the  riches  which,  I  trust, 
many  a  child  of  God  who  draws  near  to  a  communion-table  knows 
to  be  his— those  riches  which  outweigh  the  wealth  of  a  Croesus — 
the  riches  which  are  unsearchable — which  the  world  knows  not — 
which  it  can  neither  appreciate  nor  comprehend.  The  wealth 
which  the  world  knows  is  that  which  can  be  expressed  in  the 
cash-book,  or  carried  in  the  pocket;  but  the  wealth  that  the 
Christian  has  —  that  transcends  in  beauty,  in  preciousness,  in 
glory,  all  the  riches  of  the  world — are  the  riches  with  which  the 
poorest  is  unspeakably  wealthy,  and  without  which  the  richest 
man  is  poor,  and  miserable,  and  blind,  and  naked  indeed  —  is 

15* 


174.  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

"unsearchable  riches."  The  riches  of  this  world,  even  when 
they  are  greatest,  are  but  clay ;  they  are  thorns  which  prick  the 
head  that  lies  upon  a  pillow  of  down ;  the  root  of  many  evils, 
the  cause  of  innumerable  troubles :  but  the  riches  which  Christ 
has  to  bestow,  which  are  freely  offered  to  the  poorest  by  the  hand 
that  distributes  them,  are  riches  that  satisfy  the  soul  —  that  are 
accompanied  with  no  thorns,  but  bear  fragrant,  beautiful,  and 
amaranthine  blossoms,  and  that  end,  not  in  perishable  dignity, 
but  in  a  crown  of  glory  that  fadeth  not  away. 

These  riches  are  truly  useful  at  that  hour  when  a  man's  heart 
is  faint,  when  in  the  agony  of  his  soul  he  asks  the  question, 
"  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  What  can  then  comfort  him  ? 
Not  all  the  money  that  the  richest  can  give  him ;  the  only  com- 
fort ever  will  be,  as  it  has  ever  been  found  to  be,  the  riches  of 
pardoning  mercy  and  forgiving  love.  And  when  we  come  to  lie 
down  on  that  last  pillow  on  which  your  head  and  mine  must  lie, 
it  will  not  be  the  least  mitigation  of  nature's  agony,  nor  the  least 
brightening  of  the  soul's  hope,  that  you  recollect  you  have  been 
a  rich  man  or  a  great  man;  but  this  will  be  joy — this  will  be 
peace — this  wUl  be  substantial  comfort — that  you  have  an  interest 
in  Him  who  has  unsearchable  riches  to  bestow  now,  and  who  has 
riches  beyond  tongue  to  express  or  heart  to  conceive  to  give  us, 
when  this  frail  earthly  tabernacle  is  reduced  to  its  ruins,  and  this 
inner  soul,  this  immortal  inhabitant,  enters  into  an  inheritance 
that  cannot  be  moved,  and  a  glory  that  cannot  fade  away. 

Seek,  above  all,  these  riches ;  pray  that,  if  poor  in  purse,  you 
may  be  rich  in  soul ;  pray  that,  if  you  have  only  a  crumb  of 
bread  upon  your  table,  you  may  have  a  glorious  estate  in  rever- 
sion ;  pray  that,  if  in  the  estimate  of  the  world  you  are  amongst 
the  poor,  in  the  judgment  of  Him  who  is  the  First  and  the  Last 
you  may  be  rich,  because  enriched  with  the  unsearchable  riches 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Of  all  men,  the  most  pitiable  are 
those  who  have  full  purses  and  empty  hearts — who  have  all  that 
this  world  can  give  them,  and  know  not  how  to  use,  and  sanctify, 
and  lay  it  out  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  for  the  good,  the  present 
comfort,  and  the  future  prosperity  of  souls.  Let  me  ask  you. 
Are  you  among  the  poor  in  spirit,  whether  you  be  rich  or  poor 


TRIALS.  175 

on  earth?  arc  you  among  the  rich  indeed,  whether  you  be 
poor  or  rich  in  the  estimate  of  Caesar?  I  trust  that  many 
are  so, — poor  in  spirit,  but  rich  in  faith,  heirs  of  the  kingdom 
of  God. 

"  Thus  the  night  shall  be  filled  with  music, 
And  the  cares  that  infest  the  day 
Shall  fold  their  tents  like  the  Arabs, 
And  as  silently  steal  away." 


LECTURE  XL 


CHRISTIAN   COURAGE. 


"Fear  none  of  those  things  which  thou  shalt  suffer :  behold,  the  devil  shall 
cast  some  of  you  into  prison,  that  ye  may  be  tried ;  and  ye  shall  have  tribula- 
tion ten  days." — Rev.  ii.  10. 

I  EXPLAINED  in  a  previous  lecture  the  glorious  attribute 
assumed  by  Jesus  as  exclusively  bis  own,  "  I  am  the  First  and 
the  Last,  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega,  which  was  dead  and  is  alive 
again,  and  liveth  for  evermore."  I  explained  also  the  omniscience 
displayed  in  that  allusion,  "I  know  thy  works,  and  I  know  thy 
tribulation,  and  I  know  thy  poverty."  The  one  may  be  misrepre- 
sented by  the  world,  the  other  may  be  misapprehended,  and  the 
last  may  be  despised ;  but  I  know  them,  applauding  what  is  pure 
in  the  one,  what  is  beautiful  in  the  second,  what  is  holy  in  the 
third ;  and  it  is  a  light  matter  that  man  should  .condemn,  if  it  be 
the  fact  that  your  Lord  applauds.  He  then  shows  that  while 
this  was  poverty,  physically  speaking,  it  was  wealth  spiritually 
and  truly.  There  may  be  unsearchable  riches  where  there  is  very 
great  outward  poverty.  Our  Lord  says  so.  One  church  boasted 
she  was  rich ;  He  told  her  she  was  poor.  This  church  was  hum- 
bled because  she  was  poor ;  He  shows  her  that  she  was  unspeak- 
ably rich.  And  he  says,  "  I  know  the  blasphemy  of  them  which 
say  they  are  Jews  and  are  not."  Jew  is  plainly  used  in  the 
sense  of  Christian,  as  in  the  following  instances :  '  He  is  not  a 
Jew  which  is  one  outwardly :"  "  All  are  not  Israelites  who  are 
of  Israel."  And  this  book  is  constructed,  as  it  were,  upon  a 
Judaic  stage.  The  apocalyptic  scenery  is  borrowed  from  the 
temple,  and  the  national  Jew  is  introduced  as  the  type  and 
symbol  of  the  true  and  scriptural  Christian.  And  therefore,  when 
it  is  said  "  blasphemy  of  them  which  say  they  are  Jews  and  are 

(176) 


CHRISTIAN  COURAGE.  177 

not."  He  means,  the  reproach  cast  upon  thee  by  those  who 
pretend  to  be  Christians  and  who  are  really  not  so.  They  reproach 
thee  for  thy  poverty ;  they  speak  of  thee  as  if  thou  wert  not  a 
Christian ;  "  but  if  you  be  reproached  for  the  name  of  Christ, 
happy  are  you,  for  the  Spirit  of  God  resteth  upon  you."  This  is 
a  very  precious  consolation  to  every  Christian,  that  the  spot 
selected  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  specially  to  rest  on,  is  the 
head  of  a  reproached  and  misrepresented  believer  :  "  The  Spirit 
of  Christ  and  of  glory  resteth  upon  you."  We  are  here  again 
reminded  of  that  lesson  I  have  endeavoured  to  teach  from  the 
beginning,  that  the  visible  Church  is  a  mixed  Church :  of  the 
ten  virgins,  five  were  foolish ;  of  the  seed  cast  into  the  ground, 
there  were  tares  grew  up  as  well  as  wheat;  among  the  fishes  in 
the  net  there  were  bad  as  well  as  good  ones :  and  if  you  join  no 
church  until  you  have  found  a  pure  one,  you  will  live  in  sin 
against  God,  and  you  will  die  without  communion  with  the  visible 
Church  at  all.  There  was  a  Judas  among  the  twelve  Apostles ; 
and  there  never  has  been  an  era  in  the  visible  Church  of  Christ 
in  which  much  of  it  has  not  been  corrupt :  half  of  it  is  the 
smallest  proportion,  and  the  fear  is  that  the  majority  have  too 
frequently  been  so.  Christ's  flock  is  still  a  little  flock ;  and  the 
multitude  that  follow  Antichrist  is  still  a  great  multitude.  The 
Antichrist  is  enthroned  upon  many  waters  —  tongues,  and  kin- 
dreds, and  people. 

Let  us,  my  dear  friends,  select  the  Church  we  believe  to  be 
the  best,  when  selection,  in  the  providence  of  God,  is  placed  in 
our  power;  but  if  we  are  in  the  midst  of  a  communion  not  radi- 
cally corrupt  nor  essentially  off  the  foundation,  let  us  labour 
rather  to  purify,  exalt,  and  reform  it,  than  to  destroy  and  reduce 
it  to  ruins.  You  cannot  be  too  much  of  a  reformer ;  you  cannot 
be  too  little  of  a  revolutionist.  Let  us  keep  the  machinery  that 
we  have,  if  it  be  not  altogether  unscriptural ;  and  if  holy  men 
work  bad  machinery,  it  will  accomplish  brilliant  results;  but  if 
bad  men  work  the  noblest  machinery,  it  will  produce  no  blessing 
to  the  world  or  to  the  Church  at  large.  The  characteristic  of  a 
bad  tradesman  is  that  he  is  constantly  blaming  his  tools.  I  believe 
that  if  we  thought  more  of  individual  holy  life  to  make  churches 
holy,  and  less  of  corporate  laws  and  mechanical  distinctions,  we 


178  THE  CHURCH  OP  SMYRNA. 

should  make  greater  progress  in  purity  and  in  conformity  to  the 
image  of  God.  Let  us  be  satisfied  that  the  fault  is  not  in  the 
flute,  but  in  the  player ;  not  in  the  bow,  but  in  the  finger  that 
touches  it;  not  in  the  instrument,  but  in  the  hand  that  strikes 
it ;  not  in  the  machinery,  but  in  the  power  that  is  thrown  into 
the  midst  of  it. 

I  proceed  now  to  unfold  Christ's  beautiful  prescription,  which 
constitutes  the  substance  of  my  address  this  evening,  "  Fear  none 
of  those  things  which  thou  shalt  suffer."  It  is  taken  at  once  for 
granted  that  suffering  was  before  that  Church ;  and  it  is  before 
us.  It  is  well  that  our  eyes  are  blinded  to  the  scenes  of  our 
future  experience,  lest,  gazing  upon  the  awful  events  that  may 
emerge  in  the  providence  of  God,  we  should  cease  to  toil,  and 
become  paralysed  by  fear  and  alarm.  But,  whatever  be  the 
scenes  of  the  future,  as  these  shall  appear  upon  the  world's  stage, 
this  we  know,  that  in  the  case  of  that  home  that  is  now  brightest, 
and  of  that  heart  that  is  now  happiest,  there  are  days  coming 
that  will  try  the  one  and  shadow  the  other.  For  the  great  law 
of  the  Christian  dispensation  is,  "In  the  world  ye  shall  have 
tribulation  ;"  but  the  great  comfort  of  the  Christian  is,  "  but  be 
of  good  cheer,  I  have  overcome  the  world."  The  path  that  leads 
to  glory  is  a  path  not  strewn  with  roses,  but  planted  with  many 
a  thorn;  "through  much  tribulation  we  must  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  :"  and  therefore,  instead  of  affliction  being  the 
evidence  that  God  hates  you,  it  is  the  strongest  earthly  evidence 
that  G6d  loves  you.  The  man  that  I  pity,  is  not  the  man  who 
pines  with  sickness,  or  "feels  the  pang  of  pinching  poverty;" 
nor  the  man  who  has  lost  the  loved  and  the  near  and  the  dear; 
nor  the  man  who  has  had  the  accumulation  of  years  of  industry 
swept  away  by  the  hurricane  which  was  as  unexpected  as  he 
thinks  it  was  undeserved :  such  an  one  is  in  the  midst  of  that 
chastisement  which  even  in  its  sorest  agony  points  to  the  foun- 
tain from  which  it  springs  :  "  What  son  is  he  whom  the  Father 
chasteneth  not  ?"  But  if  there  be  any  whose  past  has  always 
been  irradiated  with  sunshine,  whose  present  is  lighted  with 
brilliant  temporal  hopes,  in  whose  home  sick-beds  and  tears  and 
losses  are  exiles  and  strangers,  I  pity  that  man,  I  pray  for  him ; 
I  would  say  to  him,  "  Pray  for  thyself;  the  token  that  God  is 


CHRISTIAN  COURAGE.  179 

thine,  and  that  thou  art  his,  is  not  yet  upon  thee ;  for  if  thou  art 
a  son,  '  what  son  is  he  whom  the  Father  chastcncth  not  ?  and  if 
ye  be  without  chastisement,  then  are  ye  bastards,  and  not  sons.'  " 
Paul  says  too,  in  another  place,  illustrating  the  same  truth,  that 
no  man  should  be  moved  by  his  afflictions,  for  all  are  appointed 
thereto.  The  path  that  leads  to  the  crown  is  now,  as  it  was 
eighteen  centuries  ago,  alongside  of  the  cross.  There  shall  be  no 
baptismal  flood  of  glory,  of  blessedness  and  peace,  unless  first  we 
have  tasted  of  the  cup  of  tribulation  and  sorrow  and  distress; 
but  whatever  be  your  tribulation  now,  or  whatever  tribulation 
you  and  I  may  anticipate  in  years  to  come  (and  we  know  not 
what  lies  before  us  in  the  year  that  now  rolls  onward  to  its  close), 
let  us  remember  that  we  may  /eel  it,  that  we  may  weep  over  it, 
that  we  may  battle  with  it,  but  we  may  not  fea?'  it.  "  Fear 
none  of  those  things  which  thou  shalt  suifer."  Carry  with  thee, 
then,  believer,  this  blessed  prescription  inscribed  upon  a  leaf  from 
the  tree  of  life,  put  into  thy  hand  by  the  great  Physician  of  souls, 
"Fear  none  of  those  things,"  —  the  worst  of  them — the  heaviest 
of  them  —  the  most  painful  and  bitter  of  them  :  —  "  fear  none  of 
those  things  which  thou  shalt  suffer "  in  the  remainder  of  thy 
life  or  in  the  course  of  the  providence  of  God. 

How  beautiful,  too,  is  this  prescription  !  Christ  does  not  say, 
"  Be  Stoicks,  and  do  not  feel  them ;"  nor  does  he  say,  "  Be  Epi- 
cureans, and  plunge  into  despair  when  they  overwhelm  you ;" 
but  he  says,  "Be  Christians;  feel,  but  do  not  fear  them."  The 
tenderest  hearts  often  feel  most  keenly ;  the  bravest  hearts  often 
beat  with  the  intensest  syhipathy.  Not  to  weep  would  be  not  to 
be  human;  to  weep  till  we  despair,  would  be  to  cease  to  be 
Christians ;  but  to  "  weep  as  though  we  wept  not,  to  rejoice  as 
though  we  rejoiced  not,  and  to  use  the  world  as  not  abusing  it" 
— this  is  the  character  of  a  believer — this  is  the  experience  of  a 
child  of  God.  "  Fear  none  of  those  things  which  thou  shalt 
suifer." 

But,  perhaps,  you  ask,  and  you  ask  naturally.  What  things  are 
these  ?  I  will  give  you  a  catalogue  of  them — a  catalogue  which 
has  been  composed  by  infinite  wisdom,  and  each  pang  of  which 
has  passed  through  the  heart  of  one  who  was  acquainted  with 
suffering,  like   his   blessed  Master,  and   now  reigns  with  that 


180  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

Master  before  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb.  Paul  says, 
in  Rom.  viii.,  "  Who  shall  separate  us  from  the  love  of  Christ?'' 
and  then  he  gives  us  the  list  of  those  things  which  we  are  not  to 
fear.  "  Shall  tribulation,"  that  is  one ;  "  or  distress,"  the  second ; 
**or,"  thirdly,  "persecution;"  "or,"  fourthly,  "  famine ;"  "or," 
fifthly,  "nakedness;  or,"  sixthly,  "peril;  or,"  seventhly, 
"sword?" — then  in  ver.  38,  or  "death,"  or  "life,"  or  "angels 
and  principalities,"  or  "  powers,"  or  "  things  present,"  or  "  things 
to  come,"  or  "  height,"  or  "  depth,"  or  "  any  other  creature  ?" 
"  Fear  none  of  those  things  which  any  of  you  may  be  called  upon 
to  suffer."  Each  of  these  things  is  a  dark  cloud  with  a  blessing 
in  its  bosom,  and  if  we  are  the  people  of  God,  (for  it  is  only  to 
the  people  of  God  that  this  prescription  is  addressed,)  we  are 
called  upon  to  feel  them — for  humanity  must  feel  them — but  not  to 
fear  them,  for  Christianity  teaches  us  to  triumph  over  them.  Let 
me  call  your  attention  to  the  first  of  the  list.  "  Fear  not  one  of  those 
things  which  thou  shalt  suffer  "  The  first  is  tribulation.  The  word 
tribulation  is  the  translation  of  the  Greek  Ou-^ig,  which  strictly 
means  pressure ;  it  is  applied  to  the  winepress,  and  denotes  that  the 
Christian  is  placed  under  strong  and  overwhelming  pressure  of 
danger,  or  affliction,  which,  while  it  brings  rebellion  from  the  world, 
draws  confidence  and  praise  from  the  child  of  God.  The  worldling, 
when  crushed,  either  blasphemes  the  idol  which  it  recognises  as 
the  author  of  the  afiliction,  or  it  despairs  and  commits  suicide, 
and  rushes  unsummoned  and  unready  into  the  presence  of  its 
Maker.  But  the  child  of  God,  when  the  pressure  is  heaviest 
upon  him,  is  like  the  aromatic  plarft  of  which  we  read,  the 
severer  the  pressure,  the  more  fragrance  it  emits.  The  greater 
glory  is  given  to  his  God  the  greater  the  pressure  to  which 
the  Christian  is  subjected.  To  the  one  it  is  the  savour  of  death, 
to  the  other  it  is  the  savour  of  life.  If  it  be  so,  believer,  fear 
not  tribulation,  one  of  those  things  which  thou  shalt  suffer. 
Another  mentioned  by  the  Apostle  is  "  distress,"  which  is  the 
translation  of  the  Greek  word  a-eevoxupia,  which  means  literally 
"straitness  of  place,"  and  is  used  of  a  person  placed  in  a  corner, 
as  we  say,  "in  such  narrow,  pinched,  and  straitened  circum- 
stances, that  he  can  see  no  way  of  getting  out  on  the  right  hand 
or  on  the  left."     We  have  a  specimen  of  this  attvoar"?"*  io  the 


CHRISTIAN  COURAGE.  181 

case  of  the  children  of  Israel,  when  Pharaoh  with  all  his  chivalry 
was  behind  them,  and  the  Bed  sea  with  its  unsounded  depths 
was  before  them  :  they  were  then  in  a  corner,  they  were  then  in 
distress ;  if  they  looked  behind,  they  saw  only  the  sword  of  the 
pursuer ;  if  they  looked  before,  a  watery  grave.  Then  what  were 
they  to  do  ?  Did  Moses  say,  "  Now  fear  ?"  No.  Did  he  say, 
"  Cease  to  feel  ?"  No.  What  then  did  he  say  ?  What  I  would 
say  to  you  and  to  every  believer  who  is  placed  in  similar  circum- 
stances :  "  Stand  still,  and  see  the  salvation  of  God."  "  Man's 
extremity  is  God's  opportunity."  Just  when  your  trial  has 
reached  its  very  maximum,  and  the  door  of  escape  seems  closed 
for  ever,  you  will  find  an  unexpected  opportunity  that  will  not 
only  suffer  you  peacefully  to  escape,  but  that  will  contribute  to 
the  praise,  the  honour,  and  the  glory  of  God.  Thus,  then,  if 
you  are  placed  in  distress,  the  second  in  this  catalogue,  you  learn 
the  weakness  of  man,  but  also  the  omnipotence  of  God ;  human 
power  is  laid  aside  and  you  begin  to  lean  only  on  Him  who  alone 
is  your  strength,  and  in  whom  alone  is  all  your  deliverance. 

The  next  trouble  which  you  may  suffer  as  a  believer  is  famine. 
This  is  one  of  God's  three  great  scourges,  "pestilence,  and 
famine,  and  war."  We  have  tasted  lightly  of  the  pestilence ;  it 
breathed  on  us  as  it  swept  past,  and  we  were  scarcely  scathed. 
We  have  experienced  little  of  the  famine,  for  it  appeared  in  the 
midst  of  us,  and  no  sooner  appeared  in  judgment,  than  it  disap- 
peared in  mercy;  though  strange  it  is  that  Ireland,  which  has  so 
long  been  the  drag  upon  the  expanding  energies  of  Britain,  should 
be  visited  alike  by  pestilence  and  famine,  after  the  outbreak  of  a 
civil  war  had  but  just  been  silenced  in  the  midst  of  it.  I  cannot, 
my  dear  friends,  forbear,  while  looking  round  at  all  the  states  of  the 
world,  and  the  desolations  which  have  been  wrought  in  the  midst 
of  them,  wondering  at  the  immunity  which  has  ^een  vouchsafed 
to  the  city  in  which  we  live,  and  to  the  land  of  which  that  city 
is  the  capital.  If  ever  there  was  a  people  whose  hearts  should 
beat  with  responsive  gratitude  to  God,  and  whose  evening  songs 
should  be  hymns  of  praise  and  adoring  love,  and  who  should  feel 
that  the  mightiest  sacrifices  placed  upon  the  altar,  or  cast  into 
the  treasury,  are  inadequate  expressions  of  a  nation's  thankful- 
ness and  a  nation's  love,  it  is  the  people  of  this  great  and  highly 

16 


182  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

favoured  land.  God  forbid  that  we  should  ever  forget  the  bless- 
ings we  have  tasted,  or,  like  a  country  across  the  water,  attribute 
our  deliverance  to  them  that  cannot  deliver.  Once,  when  travel- 
ling in  Flanders,  I  read  upon  the  walls  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville, 
Brussels,  this  inscription: — "A  bello,  et  fame,  et  peste,  bona 
Maria,  libera  nos  :"  "  From  war,  and  pestilence,  and  famine,  good 
Mary^  deliver  us."  To  attribute  such  deliverance  to  a  creature, 
is  to  try  to  steal  a  ray  from  the  glory  of  Christ ;  and  the  neces- 
sary consequence  is,  that  they  who  do  so  receive  a  curse  into  their 
own  bosoms. 

If  we  have  been  delivered  from  war,  from  famine,  and  from 
pestilence,  let  us  know  that  it  is  the  heavens  that  have  rained 
bread  —  it  is  the  rocks  touched  by  the  Divine  finger  that  have 
brought  forth  water.  It  was  the  raven  sent  by  God  that  carried 
bread  to  Elijah  —  it  was  the  presence  and  the  blessing  of  God 
that  made  the  widow's  cruse  of  oil  and  barrel  of  meal  continue 
while  the  famine  lasted ;  and  all  the  experience  of  the  past,  and 
all  the  enjoyment  of  the  present,  teach  us  this  blessed  lesson  — 
"  Man  doth  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  which 
proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God."  Fear  not,  then,  famine. 
The  deliverance  of  the  past  is  the  augury  of  deliverance  in  the 
future.  He  that  hath  saved  us  in  six  troubles,  in  seven  will  not 
forsake  us;  for  he  has  loved  us,  not  because  we  were  more 
numerous  than  any  nation,  or  greater,  or  holier,  but  he  has  loved 
us  in  his  sovereignty,  and  he  will  love  us  in  his  sovereignty  still. 

The  next  evil  sufibred  by  the  Church  in  the  past,  and  that 
may  be  suffered  by  us,  is  "persecution."  Persecution  is  rarely 
wielded  now  in  its  literal  and  strictly  material  sense.  Wherever 
it  was  wielded  of  old,  whether  in  the  shape  of  the  fagot,  or  of 
the  inquisition,  or  any  other  form,  it  only,  in  the  language  of  the 
poet,  "chased  the  martyrs  up  to  heaven;"  and  never  were  such 
sweet  moments  passed  by  Christians,  as  those  which  were  spent 
beneath  the  power  of  the  oppressor  and  the  persecutor.  Jacob 
flies  an  exile  from  his  home,  and  the  whole  desert  becomes 
luminous  with  visions  of  the  celestial  glory ;  John  is  driven  to 
Patmos  for  his  piety,  and  there  passes  before  him  a  spectacle  of 
glory  so  bright  that  it  dazzles  the  eye  of  the  beholder,  and  so 
brilliant  that  its  rays  of  beauty  and  of  glory  are  not  spent  or 


CHRISTIAN  COURAGE.  188 

faded  still.  There  is  no  dungeon  so  dark,  there  is  no  cell  so  deep, 
there  is  no  prison  wall  so  thick,  that  the  Christian  has  not  there 
felt  the  presence,  and  tasted  the  grace,  and  the  joy,  and  the  peace 
of  his  God.  *' Fear  not,"  therefore,  "tribulation,"  ''fear  not 
distress,"  "  fear  not  famine,"  "  fear  not  persecution,"  nor  any  of 
those  things  which  thou  shalt  suffer.  To  fear  them  is  to  magnify 
their  weight  a  hundred-fold  j  to  meet  them  in  the  strength,  and 
sustained  by  the  promises  of  your  God,  is  to  be  more  than  con- 
queror, through  him  that  loved  you. 

Nor  fear,  in  the  next  place,  "  nakedness."  The  martyrs  of  old 
were  stripped  of  all  their  raiment,  and  exposed  by  turns  to  the 
frost  and  to  the  flame,  as  the  whim  or  caprice  of  the  persecutor 
was  pleased  to  prescribe.  But  this  they  were  not  to  fear.  There 
is  no  shame  in  rags,  there  is  only  shame  in  sin ;  and  one  wonders 
that  the  man  who  is  not  ashamed  of  his  sins,  should  glory  in  his 
raiment  or  his  splendid  apparel.  What  is  the  most  precious  fur? 
The  clothing  of  a  wild  beast !  What  is  the  most  beautiful  plume  ? 
The  feather  of  the  ostrich  of  the  desert.  What  is  the  finest  silk  ? 
The  production  of  a  worm.  What  is  the  most  valuable  pearl  ? 
The  contents  of  an  oyster's  shell.  And  what  is  gold  dug  from 
the  bowels  of  the  earth,  about  which  men  fight  and  quarrel  with 
each  other  ?  what  is  it  but  a  little  yellow  dust  ?  Yet  many  are  so 
proud  of  these  things,  that  it  looks  as  if  they  had  nothing  else  to 
be  proud  of.  They  are  like  the  cinnamon-tree,  the  excellence  of 
which  is  not  in  the  inner  wood,  for  it  is  worthless,  but  only  in 
the  bark  or  covering,  which  is  of  value.  But  pride  may  be  greater 
in  a  beggar's  heart  than  it  is  in  a  prince's.  We  know  that  a  man 
may  express  his  pride  by  wearing  rags,  just  as  he  may  express  it 
by  wearing  fine  linen  and  sumptuous  apparel  every  day.  The  false 
prophets  of  old  wore  rough  garments,  and  the  monks  walked  bare- 
foot ;  and  yet  both  are  proud  in  the  sight  of  God.  It  is  not  the 
rags  or  the  purple  that  constitute  the  shame,  or  the  honour,  or 
pride ;  man  is  as  his  heart  is  in  the  sight  of  God.  There  is  often 
great  pride  under  a  beggar's  wallet;  there  is  often  glorious  humi- 
lity beneath  a  prince's  purple.  Let  us  see  that  our  hearts  are 
right  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  then  we  shall  not  glory  in  our  fine 
things,  nor  be  ashamed  of  our  mean  things;  we  shall  estimate 
each  other,  not  by  what  we  wear,  but  by  what  we  are. 


184  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

Nor  are  we  to  fear,  in  the  next  place,  "  peril."  What  are  the 
perils  which  we  are  not  to  fear  ?  The  Apostle  gives  us  a  list  of 
them,  when  he  tells  us,  in  his  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians, 
*'  Thrice  was  I  beaten  with  rods,  once  was  I  stoned,  a  night  and 
a  day  I  have  been  in  the  deep;  in  journeyings  often,  in  perils  of 
waters,  in  perils  of  robbers,  in  perils  by  mine  own  countrymen, 
in  perils  by  the  heathen,  in  perils  in  the  city,  in  perils  in  the 
wilderness,  in  perils  in  the  sea,  in  perils  among  false  brethren." 
Such  are  the  perils  which  may  await  you.  Life  is,  to  the  believer, 
a  continuous  struggle.  He  hears  at  every  turning,  "  Watch ;" 
he  is  called  upon  at  every  moment  to  "  pray ;"  he  is  called  upon 
in  every  conflict  to  "  take  the  whole  armour  of  God ;"  and  thus 
watching,  thus  praying,  and  thus  armed,  we  say,  fear  not  any  of 
those  perils  which  thou  shalt  suffer. 

The  next  that  is  mentioned  is  "  death ;"  the  most  awful,  the 
most  painful,  the  most  deprecated  of  all.  What  havoc  does  death 
leave  behind  him !  I  believe  that  death  is  a  most  unnatural 
thing.  It  is  not  natural,  that  same  death ;  it  is  nature's  curse, 
calamity,  and  close.  Man  was  never  made  to  die ;  he  was  con- 
stituted immortal ;  and  it  is  only  the  corroding  curse  of  sin,  that 
cleaves  to  every  sinew,  and  artery,  and  vein,  and  pulse,  that 
brings  this  fair  and  exquisite  framework,  so  fearfully  and  wonder- 
fully made,  to  be  the  prey  of  worms  and  the  companion  of  the 
dust.  Death  takes  the  friend  from  his  friend,  the  protegee  from 
his  protector,  the  child  from  his  parent,  the  possessor  from  his 
estate,  the  soul  from  the  body;  but  there,  in  the  case  of  a  saint, 
it  must  stop  —  it  cannot  take  a  believer's  soul  from  a  believer'3 
God.  When  a  Christian  dies,  it  is  not  he  that  dies,  but  death 
that  dies  in  his  death-bed ;  and  that  groan  which  seems  the  phy- 
sical evidence  of  a  departed  spirit,  is,  in  the  case  of  a  believer, 
but  the  first  sound  of  the  marriage-bell  which  intimates  the  mar- 
riage festival  of  the  Lamb,  and  his  union  and  communion  with 
God,  and  with  the  general  assembly  of  the  saints  above. 

It  is  thus,  then,  that  you  have  nothing  to  fear  in  death.  There 
is  not  a  grave  that  is  dug  deep  in  the  cold-clay  churchyard  over 
which  a  Christiam  cannot  say,  "  Mi/  Lord  first  lay  there."  "  Yea, 
though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  will 
fear  no  evil ;  for  thou  art  with  me."     If  this  separation  of  friend 


CHRISTIAN  COURAGE.  185 

from  friend,  and  relative  from  relative,  is  only  separating  them 
from  a  communion  characterised  by  a  thousand  intermingling 
infirmities,  and  introducing  them  into  endless,  sorrowless,  bright, 
and  happy  day,  where  friend  shall  rejoice  again  in  friend,  and 
child  in  parent,  and  parent  in  child;  then  we  can  bear  the 
momentary  severance  of  the  passage,  for  the  sake  of  the  glorious 
interview,  the  blessed  meeting  upon  that  sunlit  shore  that  lies 
beyond  it.  We  are  not  to  sorrow  as  those  that  have  no  hope ; 
"  for  if  we  believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again,  even  so  them 
which  sleep  in  Jesus  shall  God  bring  with  him." 

But  there  is  something  that  we  have  more  reason  to  fear,  if  we 
have  reason  to  fear  anything.  Death  is  a  solemn  thing,  but  life 
is  a  more  solemn  thing  still ;  and  the  Apostle,  therefore,  in  this 
catalogue  mentions  not  only  death,  but  life.  When  I  think  of 
the  conflicts  and  struggles  in  this  great  city,  for  instance,  where 
the  competition  and  conflict  of  business  is  so  great  —  when  I 
think  of  that  surging  ocean  which  rolls  and  rises,  and  ebbs 
and  flows,  through  every  thoroughfare  —  when  I  think  of  the 
thousands  struggling  on,  despairing  of  a  shore,  and  feeling 
not  a  bottom,  and  little  knowing  what  may  be  the  issue  — 
I  feel  that  if  death  be  ever  painful  in  a  Christian's  prospect,  life 
is  ten  times  more  terrible  in  a  Christian's  experience.  You  know 
how  hard  it  is  to  deal  with  the  world  and  keep  your  integrity 
inviolate.  Many  know  how  diflBcult  it  is  to  transact  the  business 
of  life,  and  yet  to  do  it  as  in  the  sight  of  him  of  whom  you  say, 
''  Thou  God  seest  me."  Many  a  bosom  in  this  assembly  is  con- 
vulsed with  conflict,  and  with  struggle,  how  he  shall  do  what  his 
conscience  bids  him  do  at  the  word  of  God,  and  how  he  shall  do 
what  the  claims  of  his  family  seem  to  prescribe  for  their  provi- 
sion. Let  us  pray  that  we  may  cleave  to  the  prescriptions  of 
conscience,  and  that  grace  may  be  given  you  to  enable  you  to  do 
so.  You  will  ever  find,  that  if  you  lose  a  good  bargain,  because 
you  love  a  better  Lord,  he  who  has  told  you  that  "  man  doth  not 
live  by  bread  alone,"  will  make  "  Christ  and  a  crust,"  as  a  poor 
■woman  once  said,  sweeter  and  more  delightful  than  the  sacrifice 
of  conscience,  with  its  tortures,  and  agony,  and  sorrow,  in  con- 
nexion with  the  luxuries  and  splendours  of  the  world.  Depend 
upon  it,  there  is  truth  in  this  maxim,  "  Seqjs  first "  —  in  the 

16* 


186  THE  GUURCII  OF  SMYRNA. 

school,  in  the  counting-house,  in  the  shop,  in  the  corn-market, 
in  the  Royal  Exchange,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  in  the  House 
of  Lords  —  "  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  all 
other  things  will  be  added,"  thrown  in  as  make- weights,  which 
God  will  give  to  all  who  truly  serve  him. 

The  Apostle  proceeds  to  enumerate,  among  other  things, 
"things  present."  Every  one  knows  where  the  barbed  arrow 
rankles,  and  the  cup  that  is  bitterest;  and  every  one  believes  his 
own  burden  to  be  the  heaviest.  But,  whatever  be  the  present 
load,  whatever  be  the  poignancy  of  the  present  trial,  remember 
that  He  who  delivered  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-nego,  and 
sustained  them  amid  the  burning  flame,  will  not  forsake  you  j  and 
that  He  in  whose  strength  the  martyrs  triumphed  at  the  stake, 
and  were  wafted  in  a  chariot  of  flame  to  a  crown  of  glory,  is  the 
same  God,  whose  strength  is  still  made  perfect  in  weakness,  and 
whose  grace  is  still  sufiicient  for  you. 

Nor,  says  the  Apostle,  should  we  fear  "things  to  come." 
What  they  may  be — whether  the  years  that  come  shall  come 
dancing  in  sunshine,  like  bridesmaids  to  a  bridal,  or  whether  they 
shall  approach  clothed  with  sackcloth  and  covered  with  crape,  as 
mourners  to  a  funeral — God  only  knows.  Whether  the  coming 
year  shall  be  sunshine  or  sadness — whether  hearts  that  are  now 
bounding  shall  be  breaking — or  whether  hearts  that  now  break 
shall  be  bound  up,  and  find  gladness  for  sorrow,  "  the  oil  of  joy 
for  mourning,  and  the  garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heavi- 
ness"— God  only  knows.  But  come  what  may  from  the  future, 
or  be  felt  what  may  from  the  present,  fear  ye  not;  the  God  who 
has  fed  you  all  your  life  long  is  your  God  still ;  he  has  been  with 
you  in  six  troubles,  and  in  seven  he  will  not  forsake  you :  "  Fear 
none  of  those  things  which  thou  shalt  suffer,"  is  his  own  blessed 
prescription. 

To  sum  up  all, — Fear  not  the  height  of  prosperity,  nor  the 
■  depth  of  adversity ;  fear  not  the  height  of  honour,  nor  the  depth 
of  shame ;  fear  not  the  pinnacle  of  the  temple  to  which  the  devil 
may  lift  you,  nor  the  crypt  below  the  temple  in  which  the  tyrant 
may  place  you.  Fear  nothing  above,  nothing  below,  nothing 
around,  for  the  whole  universe  is  at  friendship  with  that  man 


CHRISTIAN  COURAGK  187 

who  is  at  friendship  with  the  living  God,  and  can  call  Him  "  my 
Father." 

Let  nic  ask  you,  then,  in  concluding  this  summary.  What  is 
there  for  you  to  fear?  Tribulation?  "Through  much  tribula- 
tion we  must  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Hunger?  He 
feeds  us  with  living  bread.  Nakedness?  He  clothes  us  with 
spotless  righteousness.  Death  ?  To  be  absent  from  the  body  is 
to  be  present  with  the  Lord.  Banishment  ?  The  whole  earth  is 
the  Lord's,  and  there  is  no  spot  to  which  the  persecutor  can  drive 
you  where  the  wing  of  your  Father  shall  not  be  stretched  over  you 
Whom,  then  have  we  to  fear  ?  We  are  predestined  to  be  con- 
formed to  the  image  of  his  Son ;  we  are  chosen  in  Christ  before 
the  foundation  of  the  world.  Our  victory  is  the  subject  of  ever- 
lasting decree,  for  we  are  ''  chosen  unto  salvation  through  sancti- 
fication  of  the  Spirit  and  belief  of  the  truth ;"  and,  says  the 
Apostle,  "  our  light  affliction  which  is  but  for  a  moment,  worketh 
out  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding,  even  an  eternal  weight  of  glory  j" 
and,  he  adds,  "  though  no  tribulation  for  the  present  seemeth  to 
be  joyous,  but  grievous,  nevertheless  afterward  it  yieldeth  the 
peaceable  fruit  of  righteousness  unto  them  that  are  exercised 
thereby."  And  the  Apostle  tells  us  what  things  the  saints  of  old 
had  to  endure,  and  what  things  they  overcame ;  none  of  these 
therefore  may  we  be  afraid  of.  "  And  others  had  trial  of  cruel 
mockings  and  scourgings,  yea,  moreover  of  bonds  and  imprison- 
ment :  they  were  stoned,  they  were  sawn  asunder,  were  tempted, 
were  slain  with  the  sword :  they  wandered  about  in  sheepskins 
and  goatskins;  being  destitute,  afflicted,  tormented;  (of  whom 
the  world  was  not  worthy :)  they  wandered  in  deserts,  and  in 
mountains,  and  in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth.  And  these  all, 
having  obtained  a  good  report  through  faith,  received  not  the 
promise  :  God  having  provided  some  better  thing  for  us,  that  they 
without  us  should  not  be  made  perfect." 

But  let  me  endeavour  to  show  you  some  reasons  why. you  should 
not  fear  those  things  with  which  you  have  to  contend.  First, 
because  you  are  never  alone.  Realize  this  true  thought  —  a  be- 
liever is  never  alone.  Wherever  there  is  a  heart  that  beats  with 
Divine  responsive  love,  there  there  is  a  Saviour  to  feed  that  love, 
and  guide  the  beating  of  that  heart.     In  the  closet,  where  you 


188  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA, 

pray  in  secret  —  at  the  family  altar,  where  you  act  as  the  priest 
of  the  household — in  the  sanctuary,  where  you  are  one  of  a  thou- 
sand worshippers  —  in  the  deep  coal-mine,  or  on  the  lofty  Apen- 
nine  peak — in  the  tents  of  Mesech  and  the  tabernacles  of  Kedar 
—  on  the  ocean's  bosom  —  in  the  field  of  battle  —  in  the  cloister, 
and  in  the  court  —  Christ  is  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end 
of  the  world.  Therefore,  "  fear  none  of  those  things  which  thou 
shalt  suffer." 

In  the  next  place,  in  the  midst  of  your  sufferings  Christ  is  at 
hand  to  help  you.  I  will  read  you  a  beautiful  and  touching  in- 
stance of  this  in  Mark  vi.  45  :  "  And  straightway  he  constrained 
his  disciples  to  get  into  the  ship,  and  to  go  to  the  other  side  be- 
fore unto  Bethsaida,  while  he  sent  away  the  people.  And  when 
he  had  sent  them  away,  he  departed  into  a  mountain  to  pray. 
And  when  even  was  come,  the  ship  was  in  the  midst  of  the  sea, 
and  he  alone  on  the  land.  And  he  saw  them  toiling  in  rowing; 
for  the  wind  was  contrary  unto  them  :  and  about  the  fourth  watch 
of  the  night  he  cometh  unto  them,  walking  upon  the  sea,  and 
would  have  passed  by  them.  But  when  they  saw  him  walking 
upon  the  sea,  they  supposed  it  had  been  a  spirit,  and  cried  out : 
for  they  all  saw  him,  and  were  troubled.  And  immediately  he 
talked  with  them,  and  saith  unto  them,  Be  of  good  cheer :  it  is 
I;  be  not  afraid." 

Here  you  have  a  perfect  picture  of  Christ  and  his  Church ;  the 
Church  is  on  the  bosom  of  the  tempestuous  deep,  toiling  and 
rowing  the  first,  second,  and  third  watches,  three  parts  of  the 
night,  and  no  help  comes.  But  what  was  Christ  doing  all  the 
while  his  people  were  thus  distressed  ?  He  was  interceding  for 
them  upon  the  mountain's  side,  where  He  held  sweet  and  blessed 
communion  with  his  Father  and  their  Father,  with  his  God  and 
their  God.  And  at  the  fourth  watch,  just  when  despair  began 
to  creep  over  their  spirits  and  to  paralyse  their  energies.  He 
came,  waving  his  hand  over  the  ocean's  bosom,  whose  waves 
played  like  babes  around  his  holy  feet,  and  proclaiming  to  his 
disconsolate  and  dejected  ones,  "It  is  I;  be  not  afraid."  He 
will  never  cease  to  intercede  for  them  whom  He  has  washed  in 
his  own  blood,  and  whom  He  is  preparing  to  be  gems,  that  shall 


CHRISTIAN  COURAGE.  -  189 

sparkle  the  more  beautifully  when  they  have  passed  through  the 
fire,  in  his  own  glorious  diadem. 

To  comfort  the  believer  still  more,  and  to  lead  him  not  to  fear, 
let  him  recollect,  that  the  love  of  Christ  originates  and  directs 
all.  Now,  here  is  just  the  difference  between  a  Christian  man's 
suffering  and  an  unconverted  man's  suffering.  The  unconverted 
man's  suffering  is  penal ;  the  Christian's  suffering  is  paternal.  In 
the  case  of  a  child  of  God,  Christ  exhausted  from  every  suffering 
the  last  element  of  wrath,  and  substituted  for  it  the  element  of 
love.  The  blow  that  smites  the  Christian  most  severely,  is  in- 
flicted by  that  hand  which  was  nailed  to  the  accursed  tree ;  the 
cup  that  a  Christian  has  to  drink,  even  when  that  cup  is  bitterest, 
is  filled  with  love  in  disguise,  and  not  with  wrath  in  the  least 
possible  degree.  Whatever  your  affliction  may  be — be  it  the  loss 
of  thy  property,  or  the  loss  of  thy  children,  or  the  loss  of  the 
nearest  and  the  dearest  that  thou  hast,  not  one  blow  reaches  thee, 
my  Christian  brother,  which  has  not  been  meted  out  by  the 
wisdom  and  the  love  of  Hira  who  has  taught  us  to  kneel  and  say 
to  Him,  "  Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven."  Glorious  truth  !  Let 
me  then  go  forth  with  this  blessed  assurance,  that  if  there  light 
upon  my  head  all  the  storms  of  the  four  points  of  the  compass 
together,  they  are  all  expressions  of  paternal  love.  There  is  no 
really  cross  wind  in  a  Christian's  voyage  to  glory;  whether  it 
blow  against  him,  or  blow  forward,  or  blow  from  either  side,  it 
equally  wafts  him  to  the  haven  of  perpetual  rest.  Whatever  be 
the  severity  of  the  conflict,  or  the  force  of  the  tempest,  it  can 
never  rend  him  from  Christ,  nor  induce  him  to  let  go  Him, 
whom  he  has  as  an  anchor  of  the  soul,  sure  and  steadfast. 

Recollect  also  that  all  your  afflictions  are  designed  to  sanctify 
and  fit  you  for  heaven  and  for  happiness.  For  what  says  the 
Apostle  ?  "  Not  only  so,  but  we  glory  in  tribulations  also  :  for 
tribulation  worketh  patience  " — this  is  one  grace — "  and  patience, 
experience,"  that  is  another;  ','and  experience"  is  the  parent 
of  another  grace  —  "  hope,"  and  then  this  hope  "  maketh  not 
ashamed."  "All  things,"  says  the  Apostle,  "work  together  for 
good ;"  mark  the  expressiveness  of  this  assertion.  He  does  not 
say  that  ^^ some  things  work  together  for  good"  to  a  Christian, 
but  "  all  things."     And  he  says  that  "  all  things  work."    Every 


190  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

thing  is  in  action ;  and  there  is  no  dispute  among  them,  for  all 
things  "  work  totjether^'  in  perfect  harmony ;  and  all  things  have 
a  beneficent  tendency,  for  "  all  things  work  together /or  good  to 
them  that  love  Grod  and  are  the  called  according  to  his  purpose." 
Therefore  I  say  to  every  true  Church,  what  Christ  said  to  the 
Church  of  Smyrna,  "  Fear  none  of  those  things  which  thou  shalt 
sufibr." 

In  order  still  further  to  enforce  this,  let  me  very  briefly  remind 
you  that  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  the  Gospel  of  John  begins 
with  a  prescription  exactly  parallel  to  this.  Our  Lord  says,  in 
the  first  verse,  "  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled :"  the  Seer  in 
the  Apocalypse  says,  "  Fear  none  of  those  things  which  thou  shalt 
suffer."  It  may  be  useful,  when  you  have  leisure,  to  study  this 
chapter,  to  go  over,  seriatim,  each  verse  of  it )  and  you  will  find 
that  the  fii-st  verse.  "Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,"  is  the 
text :  or,  in  the  language  of  this  epistle,  "  Fear  none  of  those 
things  which  thou  shalt  suffer;"  and  that  each  verse  in  succes- 
sion is  a  reason  why  the  Christian's  heart  should  not  be  troubled. 
For  instance,  "  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled."  Why?  "In 
my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions."  Do  not  think  that 
there  is  any  necessity  for  your  pressing  back  your  friend ;  there  is 
plenty  of  room  for  all  that  wish  to  enter ;  not  one  will  be  excluded 
who  does  not  exclude  himself.  "  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled, 
as  if  you  knew  not  for  what  I  am  going :  I  now  tell  you  that  I 
go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you.  Why  should  you  fear  because  I 
am  absent  ?  my  absence  is  for  your  good ;  I  am  preparing  a  place 
for  you,  and  affliction  is  one  of  my  servants,  which  is  preparing 
you  for  that  place.  But  if  you  should  say.  We  know  not  the 
way ;  fear  not,  I  am  '  the  way.'  But  if  you  should  say,  We  can- 
not know  how  to  walk  in  that  way ;  fear  not,  for  I  am  '  the  truth,' 
and  I  will  guide  you.  But  if  you  say,  We  are  dead  and  weak, 
and  unable  to  do  anything;  fear  not,  for  I  am  *  the  life,'  and  I 
will  strengthen  and  sustain  you  in  the  way.  Be  not  afraid, 
therefore,  for  I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life ;  no  man 
Cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me."  But  if  you  should  say, 
"  We  have  none  of  those  things  that  we  need;"  yet  "  Fear  not; 
bo  not  afraid,  for  if  ye  shall  ask  anything  in  my  name,  I  will  do 
it."     But  if  you  should  say,  *'  O  Lord,  we  shall  have  no  comfort 


CHRISTIAN  COURAGE.  191 

ia  the  midst  of  the  conflict,  our  hearts  will  be  so  torn  and  our 
feelings  so  injured  by  the  struggle  through  which  we  shall  have 
to  pass,  that  we  shall  be  worn  out  with  the  ceaseless  agony  and 
conflict  and  trial j"  our  Lord  says,  "Fear  not;  be  not  afraid,  for 
I  will  pray  the  Father,  and  he  shall  send  you  another  Comforter." 
**  But,  0  Lord,  we  may  forget  these  things."  "  Fear  not ;  be 
not  afraid,  for  that  Comforter  shall  teach  you  all  things,  and 
bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance."  Whatever  may  be  your 
sufferings — however  you  may  be  persecuted,  and  reproached,  and 
calumniated,  '*  fear  not,  for  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the 
end  of  the  world ;  let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,  neither  let  it 
be  afraid." 

"  Fear  not."  Those  who  have  palms  in  their  hands,  and  who 
wear  the  white  robes  they  have  washed  and  made  clean  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb,  were  all  in  the  furnace,  and  have  come 
through  the  same  arduous  struggle  for  Christ :  we  follow  only  in 
the  wake  of  Abel,  the  first  martyr — of  Enoch,  and  Moses,  and 
Abraham,  and  Isaiah — of  Matthew,  who  was  beheaded — of  Mark, 
who  was  dragged  through  the  streets  of  Antioch  till  he  died — 
of  Luke,  who  was  hanged  on  an  olive  tree — of  Peter  who  was 
crucified,  and  of  Paul  who  was  murdered  in  the  Mammertine 
prison  at  Rome.  You  follow  them  who  through  fiith  have  passed 
through  the  same  Red  Sea,  and  who  now  sing  a  nobler  song  than 
the  song  of  Moses,  being  more  than  conquerors  through  Him 
that  loved  them  and  gave  Himself  for  them.  Fear  not  the 
prison,  for  no  walls  can  intercept  the  communion  between  Christ 
and  his  own.  "  Fear  not,"  says  our  blessed  Saviour,  "  persecu- 
tion, for  it  cannot  separate  you  from  me,  it  will  rather  bind  us 
the  more  closely  together.  Fear  not  poverty,  for  I  will  make 
you  unspeakably  rich;  fear  not  death,  for  I  have  taken,  away  its 
sting ;  fear  not  eternity,  for  the  Lamb  is  its  light,  and  I  go  to 
prepare  a  place  for  you,  and  I  will  come  again  and  receive  you 
unto  myself,  that  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be  also."  Fear 
nothing ;  pray,  watch,  persevere  through  life ;  but  do  not  fear. 
To  fear,  is  to  lose  strength.  The  joy  of  the  Lord  is  the  Chris- 
tian's strength ;  sadness  and  gloom  are  the  elements  of  a  Chris- 
tian's weakness.  Remember  then  whom  you  serve,  who  watches 
over  you,  from  whom  you  may  draw,  and  what  treasure  you  may 


192  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

draw  from  Him  j  and  then,  whether  you  shall  be,  like  the  Church 
of  Smyrna,  ten  days,  which,  prophetically,  is  ten  years,  cast  into 
prison,  or  whether  you  shall  be  subjected  to  trials  and  tribulation 
and  distress,  and  all  God's  billows  and  waterspouts  seem  to  pass 
over  you — some  few  years  hence  it  will  matter  very  little  what  we 
have  suffered,  if  we  find  this,  that  we  have  washed  our  robes  in 
the  Lamb's  precious  blood,  and  that  our  righteousness  is  the 
righteousness  of  our  Lord.  Our  hearts  shall  beat  in  a  better 
clime,  where  every  beat  shall  be  blessedness,  and  every  pulse  a 
wave  from  that  ocean  of  joy  and  felicity  which  is  around  the 
throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  for  ever. 


LECTURE  XII. 


CHRISTIAN   FAITHFULNESS. 

"Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life." — Rev. 
ii.  10. 

This  promise,  as  I  explained  on  a  previous  evening,  is  made 
to  the  angel,  and  through  him,  to  the  people  of  the  Church  at 
Smyrna.  I  explained,  in  my  first  discourse  upon  this  Epistle  to 
the  Church  of  Smyrna  as  a  section  of  the  Church  Universal, 
Christ's  Omniscience  —  "I  know  thy  works  —  thy  meanest  and 
thy  mightiest ;  the  cup  of  cold  water  and  the  precious  sacrifice.*" 
"  I  know,"  too,  "  thy  tribulation,"  the  path  thou  hast  trodden, 
the  thorns  that  have  stung  thee  in  it,  the  reproaches  that  have 
settled  on  thee,  the  conflict  and  the  agony  through  which  thou 
hast  passed.  And  "  I  know,"  too,  "  thy  poverty ;"  thou  art  a 
poor  Church ;  thou  hast  not  much  wealth ;  thy  people  belong  to 
the  humblest,  not  to  the  highest  class,  as  does  the  greater  part 
of  the  Church  of  Christ  still.  It  is  true,  not  only  of  the  ministry, 
but  also  of  the  people ;  not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble,  not 
many  rich  are  called.  What  a  solemn  statement  is  this,  "  How 
hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God !"  Strange  and  terrible  evidence  of  the  disastrous  eclipse 
under  which  all  humanity  has  come,  that  the  very  thing  which 
God's  word  proclaims  to  be  the  greatest  drag  on  our  career  to 
glory  is  the  very  thing  for  which  all  hands  are  stretched  out  that 
they  may  clutch  it,  and  which  all  hearts  are  thirsting  to  possess, 
and  all  men  thinking  the  greatest  and  the  chiefest  of  the  gifts 
which  heaven  showers  down  upon  mankind.  I  do  not  believe 
that  wealth  is  a  real  blessing ;  the  true  blessing  is  within,  not 
without;  it  is  not  the  change  of  the  outward  circumstance  that 

17  (193) 


194  THE  CHURCH  OP  SMTENA- 

makes  a  man  happy,  or  that  makes  the  poor  man  really  rich  ;  it 
is  the  change  of  the  inward  heart  which  makes  the  outward 
circumstances  rich  and  more  than  satisfying.  Man's  great  mis- 
take is,  that  he  thinks  to  heal  the  patient  by  changing  his  bed ; 
God's  great  plan  is  to  heal  the  patient's  disease,  and  then  the 
roughest  bed  will  feel  smooth.  "  I  know  thy  poverty."  But 
then,  He  adds,  "  thou  art  rich  :"  thou  art  poor  in  the  estimate  of 
man,  thy  bank-book  has  very  little  to  thy  credit  in  it ;  thy  estate 
is  very  easily  measured ;  thy  purse  is  very  light  indeed ;  and  yet, 
though  poor  in  the  estimate  of  them  who  call  that  riches  which 
may  be  grasped  thus,  thou  art  rich  in  the  estimate  of  Him  who 
counts  that  only  to  be  riches  which  are  current  in  heaven  and 
which  bear  the  stamp  and  the  superscription  of  the  Son  of  God. 
Even  Victoria's  coin  is  but  base  coin  in  heaven ;  the  only  coin 
that  is  current  there  is  that  which  is  from  heaven's  mint,  and 
stamped  with  Christ's  superscription — the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ,  the  righteousness  which  is  of  God  through  faith,  unto  all 
and  upon  all  them  that  believe.  And  then,  He  says,  "  Fear  none 
of  those  things  which  thou  shalt  suffer." 

Last  Lord's-day  evening  I  addressed  you  upon  these  words. 
"  Thou  shalt  suffer"  is  written  in  prophecy,  and  will  be  felt  in 
the  experience  of  every  man  in  this  assembly.  The  man  whose 
past  has  been  sunshine  without  cloud  —  whose  career  has  been 
smoothness  without  interruption,  has  reason  and  strong  reason  to 
suspect  wliether  it  stands  right  between  him  and  God  or  not :  for 
does  not  the  Bible  say  that  chastisement  is  one  of  the  tokens  and 
badges  by  which  God's  children  are  distinguished  ?  "  What  son 
is  he,"  says  the  Apostle,  "  whom  the  father  chasteneth  not  ?  if  ye 
be  without  chastisement,  then  are  ye  bastards,  and  not  sons ;"  and 
therefore,  that  man  who  now  congratulates  himself  that  he  has 
had  a  smooth  and  a  happy  course,  and  fine  weather  and  fair  wind, 
his  sail  stretched  out  and  not  drawn  in  since  he  started  in 
his  career,  should  indeed  begin  to  look  within,  and  to  pray,  if  ho 
never  prayed  before,  "  Search  me,  0  God,  and  know  my  heart, 
and  see  if  there  be  any  wicked  way  in  me,  and  lead  me  in  the 
way  everlasting."  And,  on  the  other  hand,  that  man  who  knows 
what  a  rough  way  is,  and  what  many  a  storm,  and  many  a  trial, 
and  many  a  bereavement  is — who  counts  the  years  of  his  pil- 


CHRISTIAN  FAITHFULNESS.  195 

grimage  by  the  tombs  he  has  left  behind  him — who  feels  what 
the  roughness  of  the  hill  is  by  the  tears  and  toils  he  has  spent 
on  it, — that  man  is  under  the  chastisement,  if  a  child  of  God, 
of  his  heavenly  Father ;  and  sweet  indeed  will  be  the  home  that 
follows  so  rough  a  journey — bright  indeed  will  be  the  sunshine 
after  so  inauspicious  a  night;  he  goes  forth  sowing  in  tears,  but 
he  shall  reap  at  the  great  harvest  in  unutterable  joy.  "  Fear 
none  of  those  things ;"  do  not  be  afraid  of  them,  do  not  miscon- 
strue them ;  they  are  the  tokens  of  a  Father's  love ;  they  are 
conducting  thee  to  a  Father's  home ;  and  I  believe,  that  if  any 
one  in  this  assembly  at  this  moment  is  visited  with  bereavement, 
with  sickness,  with  loss,  it  was  just  as  necessary  that  you,  my 
brother,  should  thus  suffer,  in  order  to  be  saved,  as  it  was  that 
Christ  should  come  from  heaven  and  die  apon  the  cross.  The 
only  ground  of  your  acceptance  is  that  most  precious  cross ;  but 
a  link  in  that  chain  that  lifts  you  from  the  thraldom  of  this 
world  to  the  glorious  liberty  of  a  better  is  just  that  affliction  you 
deprecate,  or  that  trial  you  would  rather  be  rid  of.  "  Fear  none 
of  those  things ;"  none  of  them  shall  overwhelm  you,  none  of 
them  shall  conquer  you,  for  "I  am  with  thee,"  says  thy  Father; 
"  when  thou  passest  through  the  waters  they  shall  not  overflow 
thee;  when  thou  passest  through  the  fire  thou  shalt  not  be 
burned,  neither  shall  the  flame  kindle  upon  thee."  And  then 
He  gives  a  charge — a  true  and  a  precious  charge — not  a  charge 
that  begins  with  Protestantism  and  ends  in  Popery — not  a  charge 
that  begins  with  neither  Protestantism  nor  Popery ;  but  a  charge 
full  of  truth — a  charge  that  should  ring  in  the  heart  of  every 
minister, — nay,  not  in  the  heart  of  every  minister  only,  but  in 
the  heart  of  every  man  who  has  a  post  and  a  commission  in  the 
world,  "Be  faithful  unto  death;"  and  then  a  glorious  promise, 
"  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life."  What  is  meant  by  faith- 
fulness here  ?  We  have  it  explained  in  Matt.  xxiv.  45,  where 
our  Lord  says,  "  Who  then  is  a  faithful  and  wise  servant,  whom  his 
Lord  hath  made  ruler  over  his  household,  to  give  them  meat  in  due 
season  ?  Blessed  is  that  servant,  whom  his  Lord  when  he  cometh 
shall  find  so  doing.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  That  he  shall  make 
him  ruler  over  all  his  goods."  We  have  the  very  same  faithful- 
ness described  in  Matt.  xxv.  21 :  "  Well  done,  thou  good  and 


19G  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA- 

faithful  servant :  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will 
make  thee  ruler  over  many  things  :  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy 
Lord." 

You  see,  then,  what  faithfulness  is.  It  means,  strictly  and 
properly,  allegiance,  trust,  persistence  in  the  path  of  duty,  un- 
compromising steadfastness  and  obedience.  It  may  be  addressed 
to  the  Queen  upon  the  throne — to  the  prime  minister  before  her 
— to  the  peer  in  the  Lords — to  the  senator  in  the  Commons — to 
the  magistrate  on  the  bench — to  the  minister  in  the  pulpit — to 
the  hearer  in  the  pew — to  all  men  in  all  circumstances, — "  Be 
thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life." 

Let  me  notice  in  explaining  this  subject,  what  are  some  of  the 
things  in  which  this  faithfulness  may  be  expected.  From  the 
passages  I  have  quoted,  it  seems  especially  to  refer  to  faithfulness 
to  Him  who  is  our  great  Lord  and  Lawgiver — the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Faithfulness  is  due  first  to  Christ.  All  obedience  must 
be  rendered,  not  to  a  dogma,  but  to  a  person.  Christianity  is  the 
contact  of  a  living  person  with  a  living  Lord,  and  Saviour,  and 
Lawgiver.  This  faithfulness,  this  obedience,  I  say,  must  be 
rendered  to  Him  who  is  the  Lawgiver ;  and  blessed  be  his  Name  ! 
He  who  gives  us  the  law,  gives  us  also  strength  to  obey  that  law. 
We  are,  therefore,  in  the  exercise  of  faithfulness  to  Christ,  to 
take  his  righteousness  as  our  only  and  our  exclusive  trust — his 
law  as  that  which  only  and  exclusively,  in  things  spiritual  and 
eternal,  has  force  and  authority  over  us ;  and  if  the  command  of 
the  mightiest  monarch  who  sways  the  most  powerful  of  all  the 
sceptres  of  the  world  were  to  come  in  direct,  unequivocal,  and 
unquestionable  collision  with  the  command  of  our  great  Legis- 
lator, Christ,  we  ought  to  have  but  one  answer — "  Whether  it  be 
right  to  obey  God  rather  than  man,  judge  ye."  His  command 
must  supersede  all — allegiance  to  Him  must  be  clung  to  in  spite 
of  all  J  we  must  suffer,  and  sacrifice,  and  die,  if  needs  be ;  but 
•  the  Lord  must  be  our  Lawgiver,  the  Lord  must  be  our  King. 
"  If  any  man,"  He  says,  "will  come  after  me,  let  him  take  up 
his  cross  and  follow  me ;"  and  "  if  any  man  come  after  me,  and 
hate  not  father,  and  mother,  and  wife,  and  brethren,  and  sister, 
yea,  and  his  own  life  also,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple."  Of  course 
you  will  understand  that  it  does  not  mean  that  love  to  Christ 


CHRISTIAN  FAITHFULNESS.  197 

implies  hatred  to  our  dearest  and  our  nearest  relatives.  Scrip- 
ture often  speaks  absolutely,  when  the  context  and  the  very 
nature  of  the  thing  show  that  it  is  to  be  understood  relatively. 
Thus,  for  instance,  we  read  in  one  place,  "Labour  not  for  the 
meat  which  perisheth,  but  for  that  which  endureth  unto  ever- 
lasting life."  If  a  person  were  to  understand  this  in  its  rigid  or 
absolute  sense,  it  would  imply  that  he  was  to  turn  monk,  not  to 
labour,  but  to  go  and  be  fed  at  the  public  expense ;  and  it  would 
plainly  contradict  a  clear  unequivocal  statement  in  another  Scrip- 
ture, "  If  any  man  will  not  work,  neither  should  he  eat."  We 
therefore  infer  that  the  command,  "  Labour  not  for  the  meat  that 
perisheth,"  &c.,  means,  labour  more  earnestly,  more  perseveringly, 
for  the  bread  of  life,  than  you  do  labour  for  the  bread  that 
perishes.  And  so  here,  "  If  a  man  hate  not  father,  and  mother, 
and  wife,  and  sister,  and  brother,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple," 
means,  that  when  the  crisis  demands  it — and  it  is  the  last  and 
most  terrible  crisis  that  man  can  possibly  contemplate,— but  if 
the  crisis  clearly  and  without  mistake  shows  that  Christ's  com- 
mand does  come  into  collision  with  the  command  of  the  nearest 
and  the  dearest  that  we  know,  then  we  are  to  turn  our  back  upon 
father,  mother,  sister,  brother,  wife,  and  children ;  and  we  are  to 
say  to  Christ,  and  to  Him  alone,  "Where  thou  goest,  I  will  go; 
where  thou  lodgest,  I  will  lodge ;  thy  people  shall  be  my  people, 
and  thy  God  my  God." 

Faithfulness  to  Christ  is  the  first  thing;  faithfulness  to  all 
under  him  is  the  second  and  the  subordinate  thing;  and  our 
faithfulness  to  Him  must  be  the  faithful  affection  of  a  wife 
towards  her  husband,  of  children  towards  a  parent,  of  subject 
towards  a  sovereign.  Christ  must  be  throned  in  our  conscience 
as  in  his  own  glorious  and  blessed  realm ;  all  our  affections  must 
be  a  perpetual  ministry  around  Him ;  all  our  faculties  his  ser- 
vants before  Him ;  his  cross  must  be  ours ;  his  reproach  must  be 
ours ;  his  will  must  be  ours ;  his  commands  must  be  our  rule ; 
and  "  in  keeping  his  commands,"  we  shall  find  "  there  is  great 
reward.'i 

Such  is  the  first  department  of  faithfulness;  and  I  may  say 
also,  in  a  secondary  sense  —  not  secondary  in  importance,  but 
secondary  in  order  —  we  are  to  be  faithfal  to  truth.     Persons  do 

17*  ■!:'*■ 


198  THE  CHURCH  OP  SMYRNA. 

not  always  think  thus.  Peace  without  truth  is  deception ;  truth 
without  peace  and  love  becomes  bitter  controversy.  The  two 
should  always  be  together ;  but  if  we  must  sacrifice  one,  let  us 
sacrifice  pe&ce,  if  needs  be,  not  truth.  The  reason  of  it  is  this, 
that  truth  is  the  root  —  peace  is  the  beautiful  and  aromatic 
blossom  that  blooms  upon  it.  If  you  sacrifice  the  blossom,  the 
root  remains ;  and  as  soon  as  it  feels  the  approach  of  returning 
spring,  it  will  give  birth  to  other  and  more  beautiful  blossoms ; 
but  if  you  sacrifice  the  truth,  which  is  the  root,  then  no  spring 
will  restore  its  dead  ashes,  or  cause  it  to  bud  and  blossom  in 
years  to  come.  Let  us  seek  first  the  truth,  and  next  peace  in  the 
light  and  under  the  influence  of  truth,  and  we  shall  then  find  the 
peace  that  passeth  understanding.  Let  us  be  faithful  in  con- 
tending for  truth — faithful  in  proclaiming  the  truth — opposed  to 
all  that  would  subvert,  or  modify,  or  undermine,  or  dishonour 
the  truth — let  us  be  faithful  in  spreading  the  truth,  recollecting 
that  God  has  made  us  saints  just  that  we  may  be  servants — that 
He  has  called  us  to  know  that  He  is  gracious,  that  we  may  be 
instrumental  in  bringing  others  to  the  knowledge  and  enjoyment 
of  the  same  great  truth.  Part,  if  you  like,  with  the  greatest 
husk  of  prejudice,  but  do  not  part  with  the  least  living  seed  of 
vital  and  scriptural  truth.  Give  up,  if  you  like,  the  greatest 
ceremony,  if  it  will  conciliate  a  brother ;  but  do  not  give  up  any 
one  vital  truth,  if  it  were  to  conciliate  the  whole  world.  In 
things  that  are  ceremonial,  circumstantial,  rubrical  and  ritual,  be 
yielding  as  the  osier  or  the  willow  before  the  vernal  zephyr;  but 
in  things  that  are  vital,  scriptural,  essential,  be  firm  as  the  gnarled 
oak  that  towers  in  the  storm,  and  stands  fast  in  the  sunshine, 
immutable,  unmoved, — the  same  in  winter's  blasts  as  in  summer's 
suns. 

Be  faithful  to  the  truth ;  "  buy  the  truth,"  in  the  language 
of  Solomon,  "  and  sell  it  not."  Especially,  my  dear  friends,  be 
faithful  to  that  truth,  and  stand  stedfast  for  that  truth,  which  is 
in  jeopardy.  The  mother  pays  most  attention  to  the  child  that 
is  sufiering ;  you  yourselves  will  be  most  careful  of  that  property 
which  is  most  exposed  to  peril;  and,  with  the  wisdom  of  the 
world,  sustained  and  sanctioned  by  the  grace  of  God,  we  must 
take  care  to  stand  most  firmly,  and  contend  most  closely,  for  that 


CHRISTIAN  FAITHFULNESS.  199 

spiritual  truth  which  may  be  most  in  danger.  Let  me  state  what 
are  some  of  the  truths  most  in  peril  at  the  present  day.  One  is 
justification  by  faith  in  the  righteousness  of  Christ  alone.  It  is 
called  in  one  quarter  a  satanic  doctrine ;  it  is  denounced  in 
another  as  a  Lutheran  discovery ;  it  is  proclaimed  in  a  third  as 
an  Antinomian  dogma.  Let  them  brand  it  as  they  may;  be 
assured,  what  can  be  clearly  proved,  that  whatever  be  the  name 
by  which  it  is  denounced  in  the  nomenclature  of  man,  there  is 
one  great  name  by  which  it  is  distinguished  in  the  language  of 
heaven — it  is  the  wisdom  of  God  and  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation.  This  blessed  truth  —  this  truth  which  is  the  most 
essential  truth  of  Christianity,  the  article  of  a  standing  or  a  fall- 
ing Church,  without  which  the  Gospel  is  no  good  news,  and  the 
New  Testament  but  a  second  edition  of  the  law — that  we  are  jus- 
tified, not  by  anything  we  are,  or  anything  we  do,  or  anything 
we  sufier,  or  anything  we  sacrifice,  but  by  this  alone,  that  Christ, 
who  knew  no  sin,  was  made  sin  for  us,  that  we  might  be  made 
the  righteousness  of  God  in  Him ;  and  that  we,  who  had  nothing 
in  the  world  but  sin,  are  made  righteousness  by  Him ;  and  that 
as  He  bore  our  sins,  and  came  under  our  overshadowing  and 
crushing  curse,  so  we  shall  bear  his  righteousness,  and  come 
under  his  overshadowing  and  glorious  blessing. 

Another  truth  that  is  now  particularly  menaced,  and  a  truth 
that  is  always  in  peril  wherever  there  are  corrupt  hearts,  as  there 
always  will  be,  to  deal  with  truth,  is  regeneration  by  tlie  Holy 
Spirit  of  God.  If  it  be  true,  as  I  have  said,  that  justification  by 
the  righteousness  of  Christ  alone  is  the  article  of  a  standing  or  a 
falling  Church,  we  may  truly  say  that  regeneration  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  alone  is  the  article  of  a  living  or  a  dead  Church.  The  two 
are  inseparable ;  yet  sometimes  we  do  endeavour  to  separate  them. 
What  is  regeneration?  A  change  of  heart  —  a  change  just  as 
great  as  the  creation  of  a  world,  and  a  change  that  it  needs  Omni- 
potence to  achieve,  just  as  much  as  it  needs  Omnipotence  to 
make  a  world,  or  to  keep  that  world  from  ruin.  "  Except  a  man 
be  born  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God." 
Baptism  cannot  regenerate;  it  can  wash  the  outward  man;  it 
does  not  sink  deep  enough,  nor  is  it  penetrating  enough,  to  wash 
and  purify  the  inward  heart.     Baptism  is,  as  I  have  often  told 


200  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

you,  admission  into  the  visible  Church ;  —  the  minister  of  the 
Gospel  can  give  you  this ;  —  but  regeneration  is  admission  into 
Christ's  elect,  and  justified,  and  sanctified,  and  cleansed,  and 
adopted  Church  —  the  Lord  Jesus  alone  can  give  you'  this  !  I  am 
quite  sure  that  if  men  would  only  keep  in  mind  these  two 
things  —  a  visible  Church  composed  of  all  the  baptized,  and  a 
true,  spiritual,  inner  Church,  composed  of  all  the  regenerate  — 
they  would  never  commit  so  many  errors ;  we  should  then  see 
the  visible  Church  corresponding  to  and  keeping  in  it  the 
true  Church,  just  as  we  have  the  nutshell  keeping  in  it  the 
precious  kernel;  the  one  adapted  to  the  other,  and  fitted  to 
preserve  it.  We  have  admission  into  the  visible  Church  by  bap- 
tism, in  order  that  the  baptized  may  come  into  contact  with  the 
Spirit  of  God,  who  can  admit  into  the  true  Church.  And  in  the 
same  manner  we  have  the  Lord's  Supper  in  the  visible  Church, 
in  order  that  the  believer  may  be  led  to  come  into  contact  with 
that  living  bread  and  that  living  water,  of  which  if  a  man  eat 
and  drink,  he  shall  live  for  ever.  These  are  the  two  truths  that 
are  always  in  peril ;  the  two  anchors,  fore  and  aft,  of  the  ark  of 
the  Lord.  We  must  be  faithful  in  the  maintenance  of  these 
truths ;  we  must  let  none  supersede  them ;  let  them  lie  deep  and 
close  in  our  affections,  and  rise  high  in  our  judgment,  and  be 
held  fast,  as  the  core,  the  essence,  the  substance  of  our  common 
Christianity. 

Another  part  of  this  faithfulness  is  faithfulness  to  duty.  We 
should  be  faithful  to  whatever  our  duty  may  be  shown  to  be,  not 
only  in  the  word  of  God,  but  also  in  the  providence  of  God ;  for 
God  shows  us  duty  in  his  providence  by  giving  us  opportunity 
and  strength  for  its  discharge,  just  as  he  points  out  duty  in  his 
word,  by  laying  down  prescriptions  and  rules  for  us  to  observe. 
Duty  is  always  to  be  held  as  sacred.  The  most  sacred  thing,  next 
to  God's  word  itself,  is  duty.  The  Gospel  does  not  discharge  us 
from  its  obligations ;  we  are  not  justiiiod  freely  by  a  Saviour's 
righteousness,  in  order  that  we  may  plunge  into  indolence  and 
disobedience  to  his  law ;  but  we  are  taken  from  the  curse  of  that 
law  we  have  broken,  in  order  to-come  into  contact  with  that  law 
as  ar  standard  by  which  to  try  our  attainments,  a  rule  of  life  by 
which  to  walk.    The  duty  of  obedience  to  God's  word,  and  cou- 


CHRISTIAN  FAITHFULNESS.  201 

formity  to  God's  will,  everywhere  and  at  all  times,  is  a  sacred 
thing;  and  there  is  sweetness  in  the  knowledge  and  happiness  in 
the  performance  of  duty  —  that  duty  which  is  always  in  the  pre- 
sent tense — which  stands  an  everlasting  and  an  immutable  noic — 
of  which  conscience  is  the  monitor,  God's  word  the  directory, 
and  of  which  God's  providence  is  often  the  occasion  of  showing 
what  it  is,  and  where  it  is,  and  how  we  are  to  enter  upon  it. 

Such  faithfulness  to  Christ,  to  truth,  and  to  duty,  implies  op- 
position. Why  the  prescription,  "  Be  faithful  unto  death,"  if 
there  were  no  risk,  conflict,  opposition  ?  Many  persons  seem  to 
think  that  Christianity  is  a  soft  lawn,  and  that  we  have  nothing 
to  do  but  to  lie  still,  and  be  borne  to  heaven ;  and  because  Romish 
pilgrimages  and  macerations  of  the  body  have  passed  away,  they 
think  that  Protestant  mortification  of  the  lusts  of  the  flesh  ought 
to  pass  away  too.  But  it  is  not  so ;  the  outward  superstitious 
treatment  of  the  body  has  perished,  and  ought  to  perish,  and 
Mosaic  fasts  and  feasts  have  passed  away;  but  it  is  requisite  still 
that  there  should  be  in  man's  heart  that  kingdom  which  is  not 
meat  nor  drink,  but  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

In  pursuing  this  path  of  faithfulness  to  Christ,  to  truth  and 
duty,  we  may  and  shall  have  to  be  "  faithful  unto  death."  "  Fight 
the  good  fight  of  faith,"  says  the  Apostle ;  "  lay  hold  on  eternal 
life."  Contend  earnestly  for  truth.  And  hence  a  Christian's 
life  is  not  the  alternation  of  duty  and  enjoyment,  but  the  con- 
stant experience  of  enjoyment  in  duty.  Christianity  is  not  duty 
to-day  and  happiness  to-morrow,  but  it  is  happiness  to-day  in  the 
performance  of  duty  to-day;  and  just  in  the  ratio  in  which  we 
prepare  ourselves,  in  God's  strength,  for  the  discharge  of  duty, 
is  the  amount  of  happiness  that  we  shall  realize. 

But  this  faithfulness  has  a  limit ;  it  is  said,  "  Be  faithful  unto 
death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life."  It  ipay  denote,  in 
the  first  place,  Be  faithful  to  the  end  of  life  j  do  not,  as  some 
persons  do,  accept  Christianity  to-day,  and  burst  forth  into  the 
most  fervent  expressions  of  enthusiasm,  and  then  to-morrow,  or 
next  year,  revert  into  all  the  apathy  which  you  felt  before.  Ee- 
ceive  the  truth  with  all  fervour  indeed,  but  cleave  to  the  truth 
with  all  the  fixity  of  a  riveted  principle.     We  do  not  want  the 


202  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

momentary  flash  of  the  meteor,  that  bursts  in  brilliancy,  and 
then  leaves  the  night  darker  than  before ;  what  we  want  is  the 
calm  and  growing  sunshine  of  the  rising  sun,  which  shineth  more 
and  more  unto  the  perfect  day.  We  ask  not  for  the  thunder- 
shower,  which  comes  down  in  fury,  sweeping  all  before  it;  but 
for  the  ceaseless,  silent,  penetrating  influence  of  the  dew,  which 
makes  the  earth  fertile,  and  bud,  and  bring  forth.  We  want  that 
Christian  principle  and  feeling,  which  mingles  itself  with  every 
action,  and  goes  down  to  that  which  is  deepest  and  truest  in 
human  nature,  and  becomes  the  enjoyment  of  all,  the  support  of 
all,  and  the  consolation  and  the  peace  of  all.  Be  faithful  to  the 
end  of  life,  ending,  as  you  have  begun,  by  looking  unto  Him  who 
is  the  Author  and  the  Finisher  of  our  faith. 

But  perhaps  the  meaning  is  not  only,  continue  faithful  to  the 
end  of  life,  but  it  may  mean  also,  "  faithful  unto  death,"  by  lay- 
ing down  our  life,  if  need  be,  for  Christ's  sake.  Let  us  look  this 
in  the  face,  I  do  not  think  it  is  altogether  judicious  for  a  minister 
to  say  now,  "  Could  you  die  for  Christ's  sake  ?"  because  when 
dying  times  come,  a  dying  spirit  is  given.  When  God  requires 
martyrs,  he  makes  them ;  he  fits  his  people  for  the  exigency  when 
it  comes ;  and  therefore,  to  ask  a  man  now,  Could  you  die  for 
Christy?  is  to  put  a  too  strong  question :  and  yet  sometimes  we 
should  look  it  in  the  face ;  we  should  at  least  be  able  to  say  this, 
"  None  of  these  things  move  me ;  neither  count  I  my  life  dear 
unto  myself,  so  that  I  may  finish  my  course  with  joy."  We  should 
be  ready  to  lose  our  life  for  Christ's  sake,  in  order  that  he  may 
gain  it.  The  Apostle  Paul  says  to  the  Christian  Hebrews,  "  Ye 
have  not  yet  resisted  unto  blood."  He  speaks  of  it  as  a  thing 
that  may  come,  and  for  which  we  ought  ever  to  be  prepared. 
We  know  not  what  times  are  before  us ;  we  know  not  what  scenes 
may  soon  turn  up.  We  see  all  so  fair,  so  calm,  so  beautiful,  in 
this  favoured  land  of  ours,  because  the  overshadowing  pinions  of 
our  God  are  stretched  over  us.  But  if  we,  like  other  lands,  be- 
come unfaithful  to  Christ,  to  his  truth,  to  duty,  and  to  duty  in 
the  shape  in  which  it  is  needed  in  the  present  day — self  sacrifice, 
generosity,  large-hearted  liberality, — those  overshadowing  pinions, 
which  are  more  impenetrable  than  all  the  bulwarks  of  man,  will 
be  folded,  and  then  our  land  will  be  rocked  by  the  earthquakes 


CHRISTIAN  FAITHFULNESS.  203 

which  are  shattering  and  convulsing  every  other  land,  and  the 
thunder-stamp  of  revolution  may  be  heard  at  our  doors,  and  blood 
may  stain  our  streets,  as  it  has  stained  those  of  every  capital  in 
Europe. 

If  it  be  true,  as  great  men  and  good  men  think,  that  the  whole 
world  is  splitting  into  two  great  sections — one  consisting  of  God's 
people,  who  are  becoming  every  day  more  real,  more  earnest,  more 
intense,  more  careless  about  ceremony,  more  concerned  about 
vital  truth — more  like  Christ,  more  sympathising  with  him,  more 
zealous  for  his  cause ;  and  the  other  half  of  the  world — worldly 
men,  who  are  becoming  daily  more  visibly  and  distinctly  allied  to 
Satan,  and  ready  to  exert  their  whole  strength  for  him,  and  to 
fight  for  him  and  die  for  him ;  then,  when  the  two  hosts  have 
taken  their  places,  and  each  army  has  received  its  specific  and 
peculiar  polarity,  that  tremendous  antagonism  will  begin  which 
will  show  the  black  lines  of  murderers  on  Satan's  side — for  he 
was  a  murderer  from  the  beginning ;  and  the  noble  army  of  saints 
and  martyrs  on  the  other  side — for  such  have  Christ's  people  been 
in  the  best  and  in  the  worst  of  times.  Such  a  crisis  is  coming, 
and  it  is  my  conviction  that  it  will  come,  and  come  far  sooner 
than  any  of  us  are  dreaming  of, — for  1849  is  only  a  lull  in  the 
midst  of  the  terrible  storm  that  has  come  upon  us.  Sailors  talk 
of  what  they  call  "  breeding  weather,"  i.  e.  calm  weather,  when 
the  sail  flaps  upon  the  mast,  preparatory  to  a  storm :  in  such 
weather  they  make  ready  to  take  in  every  stitch  of  canvass,  every 
man  stands  at  his  post,  the  ship  is  made  all  tight  and  trim  to  ride 
out  the  approaching  hurricane,  which  in  six,  eight,  or  ten  hours 
comes  rushing  on,  convvlsing  heaven  and  earth  as  it  sweeps  past 
them.  This  1849  is  the  breeding  weather ;  by  and  by  the  storm 
will  come,  an(f  come  right  speedily,  and  only  they  whose  anchor 
is  in  sure  ground,  whose  refuge  is  the  Son  of  God,  whose  hearts 
are,  as  their  hearts  should  be,  under  the  influence  of  the  Spirit 
of  God,  whose  only  standard  is  the  Bible,  whose  only  pole-star  is 
a  Saviour,  whose  only  hope  is  Deity,  these  alone  will  be  able  to 
ride  out  the  storm ;  and  when  it  has  ceased,  and  the  earth  has 
undergone  its  wreck,  they  will  be  found  in  that  holy  ark,  not 
built  by  Noah,  but  built  by  Christ,  which  will  bear  them  safe 
amid  the  storms,  and  the  fury,  and  the  waves  of  this  present 


2J4  THE  CHDRCn  OF  SMYRNA. 

troubled  world,  and  land  them,  not  upon  the  ban-en  hills  of 
Ararat,  to  look  forth  upon  a  world  dismantled  and  depopulated, 
but  upon  the  everlasting  hills  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem. 

Be  faithful,  then,  even  unto  death,  and  at  the  expense  of  mar- 
tyrdom, if  needs  be,  for  Christ's  sake.  In  order  to  be  faithful, 
we  must  be  fully  convinced  of  the  truth  of  God's  word.  Make 
up  your  minds,  upon  evidence  satisfactory  to  yourselves, —  and 
the  best  evidence  is  when  one's  own  heart  responds  to  it, —  that 
God's  word  is  true ;  and  when  you  have  made  up  your  mind  that 
it  is  so,  lay  aside  that  fact  in  your  heart,  and  leave  it  there,  and 
when  a  geologist  emerges  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  or  an 
astronomer  descends  from  his  aerial  flight,  or  a  traveller  comes 
from  the  east,  or  from  the  west,  and  says,  "  I  have  discovered 
something  which  proves  that  the  Bible"  is  false,"  just  tell  him, 
"  I  have  settled  it  in  my  mind,  upon  clear  and  conclusive  evi- 
dence, that  the  Bible  is  true ;  and  whatever  you  have  discovered, 
above  or  below,  in  the  east  or  in  the  west,  never  can  disprove  it; 
it  will  be  found  that  your  science  is  defective,  not  that  God's 
word  is  false."  Treat  the  inspiration  of  scripture  as  a  thing  set- 
tled ',  do  not  always  bring  the  Bible  into  discussion ;  give  it,  once 
for  all,  a  thorough  investigation  ;  weigh  every  testimony,  examine 
every  proof  j  and  when  you  have  come  to  a  full  conviction  that 
this  book  is  true,  lay  aside  the  fact;  do  not  bring  it  again  into 
discussion ;  do  not  keep  always  reverting  to  the  very  threshold 
of  Christianity ;  settle  it  in  your  minds  that  it  is  true ;  and  when 
you  have  done  so,  and  concluded,  as  the  highest  logic  and  the 
holiest  heart  will  conclude,  that  this  book  is  true,  store  it  up  as  a 
settled  point,  not  to  be  dragged  into  discussion  because  any  fool 
comes  and  tells  you  that  he  has  discovered  something  which  may 
upset  it.  It  rests  on  its  own  immutable  foundation.  See  this, 
examine  this,  lay  this  clearly  before  your  mind,  and  then  you  are 
prepared  for  whatever  may  betide.  If  a  sailor  at  sea  has  always 
a  lurking  suspicion  that  his  compass  is  a  bad  one,  and  may  de- 
ceive, he  will  feel  always  in  jeopardy;  but  if  he  commits  himself 
to  his  compass,  and  steers  by  that,  conscious  that  it  is  right,  he 
will  then  go  on  confidently  and  safely.  And  so  it  must  be  with 
you;  the  only  way  to  remain  faithful  to  Christ — faithful  even  to 


CHRISTIAN  FAITHFULNESS.  205 

martyrdom  —  is  to  have  a  clear,  fixed,  immutable  conviction 
within  you,  that  God's  word  is  indeed  God's  word. 

Above  all,  let  me  exhort  you  to  seek  the  Holy  Spirit  to  enable 
you  to  be  faithful.  You  cannot  sink  in  the  rolling  billows  when 
the  storm  bursts  forth  in  its  fury,  if  you  lean  upon  Christ,  and 
believe  that  he  can  save  you.  But  this  perseverance  in  leaning — 
this  faithfulness  unto  death  —  is  "  not  by  might,  nor  by  power, 
but  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  of  hosts."  You  may  say  it  is  para- 
doxical, or  contradictory,  but  it  is  matter  of  fact,  (and  one  fact  is 
worth  a  whole  cartload  of  metaphysical  discussion,)  that  the  man 
that  leans  most  on  strength  that  is  above  him,  does  the  most,  in 
that  strength,  in  the  battle  of  life  that  is  before  him.  This  is  one 
of  the  grand  paradoxes  of  Christianity,  that  just  as  the  man  who 
believes  that  he  is  justified  by  a  righteousness  without  him,  is  the 
man  who  has  a  heart  most  inlaid  with  holiness  within  him ;  so 
that  man  who  leans  most  upon  God's  Spirit  as  all  his  strength 
without  him,  is  just  the  man  who  labors  most  and  does  most  in 
the  world  around  him.  Lean  upon  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  you 
will  have  strength  sufiicient  for  anything  that  may  be  required 
of  you;  lean  upon  your  own  strength,  and  alas  !  you  will  indeed 
find  it  a  broken  reed  that  will  fail  you  when  you  most  need  it. 
The  Church  walks  the  straight  road  through  the  wilderness 
itself  when  she  leans  upon  the  arm  of  her  beloved.  We  must 
lean ;  creatureship  must  lean ;  faith  finds  its  safety  and  its 
strength  in  leaning. 

Let  me  add,  as  my  last  remark  upon  this  faithfulness,  that  we 
must  be  faithful,  not  merely  in  great  places,  but  wherever  God, 
in  his  providence,  may  place  us.  Some  seem  to  think,  "  If  I 
were  placed  in  some  lofty  post  in  order  to  play  a  brilliant  part  in 
the  eye  of  the  world,  how  faithful  should  I  be  !"  But,  my  dear 
friends,  if  you  cannot  be  faithful  in  the  servant's  place,  you  never 
will  be  faithful  in  the  master's.  If  you  cannot  be  faithful  in  the 
by-paths  of  common  life,  you  never  will  be  faithful  in  the  high- 
roads of  public  life.  More  of  real  Christianity  is  seen  by  God  in 
the  nooks  and  corners  and  sequestered  lanes  of  this  great  city, 
than  in  its  parliament,  in  its  halls,  in  its  palaces,  and  its  great 
public  and  prominent  places.  If  we  cannot  be  faithful  in  the 
least,  we  have  the  highest  possible  authority  that  we  cannot  be 

18 


206  THE  CHTJRCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

faithful  in  the  greatest.  We  are  not  responsible  to  God  for  the 
place  we  are  in,  or  for  the  strength  we  have,  or  for  the  succes" 
of  our  efforts ;  for  what  does  the  Lord  say  to  the  servant  at  the 
close  of  his  career  ?  He  does  not  say,  "  Well  done,  thou  good 
and  successful  servant;"  but  he  says,  "Well  done,  thou  good 
and  faithful  servant."  God  expects  us  to  be  faithful ;  and  if  we 
are  faithful,  we  may  leave  to  Him  the  success  or  the  issue  of  that 
faithfulness.  God  expects  us  to  be  faithful  wherever  we  are, 
and  however  we  may  be  situated. 

There  remains  the  promise  given  to  us,  on  which  I  will  shortly 
dwell,  "  Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown 
of  life."  Without  enlarging,  let  us  notice,  first,  the  donor  of 
it — the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  He  who  is  all-powerful  says,  **  I  will 
give  thee  a  crown  of  life."  Next,  the  certainty  of  it,  "I  will 
give  thee ;"  for  he  is  faithful  that  promised.  One  promise  of 
Christ  is  worth  all  the  performances  of  all  the  mightiest  put 
together.  You  may  depend  upon  this  promise,  not  as  a  perad- 
venture  that  may  be,  but  as  a  foundation  of  peace  that  shall 
remain  when  heaven  and  earth  have  passed  away.  Notice,  also, 
the  sovereignty  of  it :  "I  will  give  it."  He  does  not  say,  " I 
will  give  him  the  reward  of  what  he  has  done,"  nor  does  he  say, 
"  I  will  pay  him  so  much  for  his  work,"  but  "  I  will  give  it." 
"  The  wages  of  sin  is  death :"  but  what  is  the  converse  ?  not 
"  the  wages  of  righteousness  is  life,"  but  "  the  gift  of  God  is 
eternal  life."  The  lost  in  misery  will  carry  with  them  the  cor- 
roding and  consuming  recollection,  "we  have  just  got  the  wages 
for  which  we  laboured ;"  the  saved  in  glory  will  carry  with  them 
what  shall  be  the  sweetest  ingredient  in  their  happiness,  the 
happiest  thought  in  their  heart  —  that  the  "brightest  and  most 
beautiful  things  of  heaven  are  all  by  grace,  not  by  merit  at  all. 

Let  us  notice  also  the  individuality  of  it —  "I  will  give  thee." 
I  showed  you  this  in  preaching  on  the  text,  "  I  have  prayed  for 
thee  that  thy  faith  fail  not."  Do  you  see,  it  is  not  "  I  will  give 
to  them ;"  but,  in  order  that  no  man  may  miss  the  prescription, 
or  lose  the  prospect  of  the  reward,  he  says,  "  I  will  give  thee  a 
crown  of  life."  Much  of  Christianity  is  personal.  The  question 
is,  "  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  and  the  answer  is,  "  Believe 


CHRISTIAN  FAITHFULNESS.  2<J7 

on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved."  It  is  most 
important  that  we  should  recollect  that  we  are  not  merged  in  the 
mass ;  but  that  as  we  were  lost  personally,  we  must  be  saved  per- 
sonally. But  each  man  must  wash  his  raiment  in  the  blood  of 
Christ  alone  3  each  man  must  die  alone ;  each  man  must  be  lost 
or  saved  alone.  I  believe  that  the  most  wholesome  exercise  is 
frequently  to  retire  from  the  crowd  and  bustle  and  din  of  the 
world,  and  commune  between  God  and  our  hearts  alone.  All 
great  minds  are  much  alone,  all  holy  hearts  are  much  alone. 
They  may  touch  the  crowd  at  a  thousand  points ;  but  yet  there 
are  in  every  true  heart  great  and  silent  depths,  like  the  depths 
of  the  mighty  ocean,  that  are  never  touched  or  influenced  by  the 
tides  and  the  streams  that  pass  over  them,  into  which  the  Chris- 
tian retires  and  communes  in  silence,  in  secresy,  and  in  deep 
solemnity  with  the  Father  of  spirits,  and  lives. 

But  what  is  the  crown  of  life  !  It  is  not  the  Greek  word  dia- 
dcma  that  is  here  used,  which  means  an  emperor's  crown ;  but  it 
is  the  Greek  word  atifavog,  a  conqueror's  crown,  and  relates  to 
the  crown  worn  by  the  successful  combatants  at  the  Olympic 
games,  at  which  a  wreath  was  placed  on  the  head  of  the  victor, 
to  denote  that  he  had  conquered,  and  to  dignify  him  in  the  eyes 
of  the  assembled  people  These  laurels  withered,  these  bay-leaves 
faded  away ;  but  Christ  says,  "  I  will  give  to  my  faithful  runner, 
who  has  run  with  boldness  the  race  set  before  him, — to  my 
faithful  soldier  who  has  fought  the  good  fight  of  faith,  not  that 
bay  or  laurel  crown,  not  that  att^vo;,  whose  leaves  shall  wither 
and  turn  to  corruption  around  the  brows  of  him  that  wears  it,  but 
'  a  crown  of  life,'  an  imperishable  crown,  a  crown  of  glory  that 
fadeth  not  away." 

But  my  impression  is,  judging  from  the  context,  that  this  life 
is  not  the  life  of  the  soul,  but  the  resurrection  life.  The  whole 
of  this  epistle  relates  to  Christ  as  the  risen  Christ.  For  instance, 
in  ver.  8,  "These  things  saith  He  which  was  dead  and  is  alive." 
What  was  his  death  ?  His  death  upon  the  cross.  What  was  his 
life  ?  Not  his  own  essential,  divine  life,  of  which  he  speaks  in 
another  epistle,  but  his  resurrection  life ;  the  life,  therefore,  that 
is  here  promised  is  the  resurrection  life.     Thus,  in  John  vi.  39, 


208  THE  CHURCH  OF  SiMYRNA. 

*'  This  is  the  Father's  will  which  hath  sent  me,  that  of  all  which 
lie  hath  given  me  I  should  lose  nothing,  but  should  raise  it  up 
again  at  the  last  day;"  and  at  ver.  40,  "  And  this  is  the  will  of 
him  that  sent  me,  that  every  one  which  seeth  the  Son,  and  be- 
lieveth  on  him,  may  have  everlasting  life :  and  I  will  raise  him 
up  at  the  last  day."  And  in  ver.  44,  "No  man  can  come  to  me, 
except  the  Father  which  hath  sent  me  draw  him  :  and  1  will 
raise  him  up  at  the  last  day."  And  again,  at  ver.  54,  "  Whoso 
cateth  my  flesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood,  hath  eternal  life;  and  I 
will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day :"  in  all  which  places  you  per- 
ceive the  resurrection  is  associated  with  immortality.  The  resur- 
rection is  the  special  promise  :  in  11.  Tim.  iv.  7,  "  I  have  fought 
a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith  : 
henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which 
the  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day."  What 
day?  The  day  that  he  specifies  in  the  next  clause, —  "and  not 
unto  me  only,  but  unto  them  also  that  love  his  appearing." 
Now,  that  day,  I  conceive,  we  have  described  in  Rev.  xx,  where 
we  read  at  ver.  4,  "  And  I  saw  thrones,  and  they  sat  upon  them, 
and  judgment  was  given  unto  them :  and  I  saw  the  souls  of 
them  that  were  beheaded  for  the  witness  of  Jesus  .... 
and  they  lived  and  reigned  with  Christ  a  thousand  years.  But 
the  rest  of  the  dead  lived  not  again  until  the  thousand  years 
were  finished.  This  is  the  first  resurrection" — the  resurrection 
from  among  the  dead.  The  expression  "  they  lived  and  reigned," 
is  just  a  paraphrase  on  "  the  crown  of  life."  "  They  lived  and 
reigned  with  Christ  a  thousand  years,"  signifies,  if  I  may  trans- 
late it  into  the  words  of  my  text,  "  they  wore  crowns  of  life  a 
thousand  years."  I  believe  that  this  promise  here  made  of  a 
crown  of  life,  is  therefore  equivalent  to  a  promise  of  the  first  re- 
surrection, of  which  all  believers  will  partake.  I  have  explained 
this  to  you  before,  and  at  length.*  I  believe  there  is  a  first  and 
a  second  resurrection ;  else,  what  does  the  Apostle  Paul  mean  by 
saying,  "  If  by  any  means  I  might  attain  unto  the  resurrection 
from  the  dead?"     Every  one  will  attain  to  that,  for  "all  that 

*  See  Apocalyptic  Sketches  delivered  in  Exeter  Hall. 


CHRISTIAN  FAITHFULNESS.  209 

sleep  shall  rise ;"  but  if  we  look  into  the  original,  the  Apostle's 
language  appears  distinct  and  special ;  "  If  I  may  attain  ti;  -trpi 
avaataaiM  ix  tdv  vexpavj  the  resurrection  from  among  tne  dead." 
And  so  the  Apostle  John  says,  "  This  is  the  first  resurrection ;" 
it  is  literally,  ''This  is  the  resurrection,  the  first  one;"  i.  e.  the 
resurrection  from  among  the  dead.  And  we  read  that,  when 
Christ  appears,  he  will  "  descend  from  heaven  with  a  shout,  with 
the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of  God ',  and  the 
dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first."  Now  I  believe  that  when  the 
dawn  of  that  blessed  millennium  shall  come,  the  trumpet  shall 
sound,  and  there  shall  not  be  a  dead  brother,  or  a  dead  sister,  or 
a  dead  son,  or  a  dead  dear  and  near  one  now  mouldering  in  the 
tomb,  but  asleep  in  Jesus,  who  shall  not  hear  and  be  electrified 
by  the  sound,  and  come  forth  and  shine  in  the  splendors  of  the 
resurrection  morn,  wearing  a  crown  of  life  that  fadeth  not  away ; 
and  that  millennium,  with  all  its  beauty  and  its  blessedness,  will 
be  but  a  foretaste  and  prelibation,  or,  as  it  were,  the  mere  vesti- 
bule or  ante-room  of  that  everlasting  glory  into  which  the  people 
of  God  shall  enter  and  abide  for  ever. 

Such  is  this  crown  of  life,  the  first  resurrection,  the  distinction 
of  the  saints,  the  glory  of  them  that  have  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus. 
It  is  not  impossible,  nay,  it  seems  to  rae  probable,  that  many  who 
are  now  before  me  shall  not  fall  asleep  till  they  hear  that  royal 
sound.  All  things  indicate  we  are  rushing  to  it ;  all  things  show 
that  it  is  rapidly  coming  on :  worldly  men  cannot  explain  what 
the  world  is  about ;  politicians  cannot  understand  why  all  their 
schemes  are  failing,  and  all  their  diplomacy  coming  to  naught ; 
they  cannot  understand  how  it  is  that  nations  seem  as  if  some 
terrible  spirit  had  started  up  from  the  depths  below,  and  driven 
them  to  destroy  each  other.  It  is  the  increasing  chaos  that  pre- 
cedes order;  it  is  the  disorganization  that  precedes  a  new  combi- 
nation ;  the  world's  sabbath  is  now  close  at  hand.  I  have  before 
told  you  that  it  has  been  clearly  proved  that  the  seventh  thou- 
sandth year  of  the  world  will  begin  about  A.  D.  1862 ;  it  has 
already  lasted  nearly  six  thousand  years,  and  according  to  the 
Jewish  belief,  the  seventh  thousand  years  will  constitute  the 
great  year  of  Jubilee,  "  the  rest  that  remaineth  for  the  people 

18* 


210  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

of  God."  It  is  very  remarkable  also,  if  what  Clinton  has  estab- 
lished be  true,  that  the  great  prophetic  epochs  will  all  terminate 
within  five  or  ten  years  of  that  period.  It  is  not  for  man  or  angel 
to  specify  the  year ;  but  we  know  it  is  for  all  men  to  be  prepared  j 
and  then,  they  that  have  a  sabbath  heart  shall  be  fitted  for  a  sab- 
bath rest ;  and  they  that  have  a  millennial  love,  shall  enter  into 
millennial  joy. 


LECTURE  Xin. 


THE  PROMISE. 


"He  that  hath  an  ear  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches; 
He  that  overcometh  shall  not  be  hurt  of  the  second  death." — Rev.  ii.  11. 

These  are  the  last  words  of  the  instructive  epistle  addressed 
to  the  Church  of  Smyrna.  Christ  begins  his  address  by  de- 
scribfng  himself  as  "  the  First  and  the  Last."  He  was  before 
angels  were,  and  he  shall  be  over  all  and  above  all  when  all  that 
is  now  seen  has  passed  away.  He  begins  by  stating  that  he 
knows,  in  the  exercise  of  omniscience,  the  works  of  that  Church, 
alike  her  deeds  of  mercy  and  her  acts  of  beneficence.  A  believer 
does  not  breathe  a  prayer  for  a  sufi'erer,  or  give  a  cup  of  cold 
water  to  the  thirsty,  that  Christ  does  not  see,  and  of  whom  he 
does  not  say,  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  the  least  of 
these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me."  "  I  know,"  too, 
"thy  tribulation,"  the  persecution  you  have  experienced,  the 
afiliction  you  have  suffered.  "I  know,"  too,  "thy  poverty;" 
very  little  wealth  in  thy  purse,  and  still  less  in  thy  coffers;  ex- 
ternally thou  art  poor,  but  in  a  higher  sense  than  man  sees,  "  thou  y 
art  rich."  Thou  hast  not  the  wealth  of  Caesar,  but  thou  hast, 
instead,  the  riches  of  Christ ;  thou  art  poor  in  the  judgment  of 
man,  unspeakably  rich  in  the  estimate  of  the  Lord.  For  sub- 
stantial happiness  now  and  eternal  joy  hereafter,  it  matters  little 
how  poor  we  are  in  the  things  of  time,  if  we  are  rich  in  faith 
and  in  grace  towards  God.  "  And  I  know  the  blasphemy  of  them 
which  say  they  are  Jews,  and  are  not" — those  who  pretend  to  be 
Christians,  and  who,  under  the  covert  of  the  Christian  name, 
assail,  malign,  seduce,  and  pervert.  But  then  he  gives  a  pre- 
scription :  "  Fear  none  of  those  things ;"  meet  them  manfully  in 
the  strength  of  your  Redeemer;  resist  them,  but  do  not  fear 

211 


•< 


212  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

them.  Fear  paralyses  effort,  damps  exertion,  is  the  sure  precursor 
of  defeat.  " Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled;"  "Fear  none  of 
those  things  which  thou  shalt  suffer."  "  Behold,  they  shall  cast 
some  of  you  into  prison,  that  ye  may  be  tried,  and  ye  shall  have 
tribulation  ten  days," — ten  prophetic  days,  or  ten  years.  And 
he  then  gives  the  exhortation  and  the  promise,  "  Be  thou  faithful 
unto  death" — faithful  to  the  end  of  life — faithful,  if  death  should 
be  the  penalty  of  its  exercise;  and,  being  thus  faithful  unto 
death,  "  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life ;"  it  is  by  grace,  not  by 
merit ;  there  is  no  merit  in  a  Christian's  cross,  there  is  nothing 
that  deserves  a  crown  in  a  Christian's  sacrifices ;  and  therefore 
the  last  gift  of  Christ  shall  be,  like  the  first,  free ;  heaven  will 
begin  as  earth  commenced,  with  a  free  and  sovereign  donative ; 
"  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life."  And  then  he  adds,  "  He 
that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the 
Churches."  The  epistle  is  for  all ;  the  instruction  is  for  us  to-day, 
just  as  much  as  it  was  for  the  followers  of  Christ  at  Smyrna 
eighteen  centuries  ago.  Here  you  may  see,  indirectly,  though  I 
do  not  now  dwell  upon  it,  the  evidence  of  the  personality  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  "  Hear  what  the  Spirit  saith."  Socinians  have  tried 
to  show  that  the  Spirit  is  a  figure  of  speech ;  but  no  one,  I  am 
sure,  can  honestly,  or  carefully  and  teachably  read  through  the 
New  Testament,  without  seeing  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  there 
assumed  to  be,  and  described  as,  a  person.  "  The  Spirit  is 
vexed ;"  "  the  Spirit  is  grieved ;"  "  the  Spirit  witnesseth ;"  "  the 
Spirit  saith  to  the  Churches ;"  expressions  that  can  be  predicated 
only  of  a  person,  and  cannot  be  used  of  a  figure  of  speech.  But 
^here  is  not  only  personality  implied,  but  there  is  also  Deity; 
because  the  speaker  is  the  same  Being  who  gives  the  epistles ; 
and  we  are  told  that  Christ,  who  walks  in  the  midst  of  the  seven 
golden  candlesticks,  speaks  to  the  one  Church,  and  Christ,  who 
is  the  First  and  the  Last,  speaks  to  the  other  Church ;  but  to 
each  of  them  the  Spirit  speaks  also ;  "  Hear  what  the  Spirit 
saith  unto  the  Churches,"  teaching  us  that  the  Spirit  "takes  of 
the  things  of  Christ,  and  shows  them  unto  us." 

Perhaps  there  is  an  allusion  here  to  the  great  fact  that  we  can- 
not learn  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  and  feel  them  in  all  their  saving 
and  their  sanctifying  power,  unless  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  shall 


THE  PROMISE.  213 

take  them,  and  apply  them,  and  impress  them  on  our  hearts;  and 
consequently  the  reason  why  so  little  interest  is  felt  in  the  Gospel 
—  why  so  many  hear  it,  and  so  few  feel  it  —  is  not  that  there  is 
wanted  greater  light,  more  eloquence  of  speech,  more  force  of 
language ;  but  more  prayer  on  our  part,  and  a  more  abundant 
effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  God's  part.  If  there  be  no  Holy 
Spirit  poured  out  upon  God's  Church,  it  is  not  because  of  want 
of  liberality  or  willingness  on  God's  part,  for  he  constantly  rea- 
sons with  us,  remonstrates  with  us,  and  says,  "  If  ye,  being  evil, 
know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your  children,  how  much  more 
shall  your  heavenly  Father  give  the  Holy  Spirit  unto  them  that 
ask  him  !" 

Now  what  is  the  reason  why  every  man  in  this  assembly,  with- 
out one  single  exception,  this  night,  has  not  a  new  heart,  and  is 
not  a  new  creature  ?  Hear  it,  and  carry  this  solemn  conviction 
with  you, —  the  only  reason  is,  that  he  docs  not  ask  it.  No  man 
ever  went,  in  the  depth  of  his  conviction,  and  bent,  not  the  knee, 
but  the  heart,  and  raised,  not  the  eye,  but  the  soul  unto  his 
Father,  and  asked  him  for  his  Holy  Spirit  to  change  his  heart, 
in  the  name  and  through  the  mediation  of  Christ  the  living  way, 
and  retired,  permanently  disappointed.  None.  If  such  an  in- 
stance were  produced,  it  would  be  evidence  to  me  that  God's 
word  is  not  true  ;  for  what  does  it  say  ?  "  Ask,  and  ye  shall  re- 
ceive; seek,  and  ye  shall  find;  knock,  and  it  shall  be -opened 
unto  you."  Let  us  treat  God's  word  as  an  honest  and  bond  fide 
book ;  do  not  dilute  this  expression,  and  deduct  so  much  per  cent, 
from  that;  do  not  say,  This  promise  is  figurative,  and  that  offer 
is  hyperbolical ;  but  just  believe  what  God  says  —  no  less  and  no 
more ;  ask,  seek,  and  knock  where  he  bids  you,  and  see  if  God 
will  disappoint  you.  I  believe,  my  dear  friends,  one  great  mis- 
take is,  that  we  do  not  read  God's  book  in  the  simplicity  in  which; 
God  has  given  it.  It  is  the  plainest  of  all  books ;  it  is,  what 
Howells  called  it,  "  common  sense  inspired."  In  order  to  under- 
stand this  book,  we  do  not  need,  as  some  persons  seem  to  imagine, 
a  new  edition  of  the  Bible,  but  a  new  spirit  in  the  reader  of  the 
Bible :  when  we  ask  for  the  Holy  Spirit  to  enable  us  to  under- 
stand the  Bible,  we  do  not  ask  of  him  to  emit  a  plainer  record, 
or  to  write  a  new  commentary  on  the  Bible,  or  to  alter  one  jot  of 


214  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

it.  God's  book  is  perfect.  " The  Law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect;" 
what  we  want  is  not  a  change  in  the  book,  but  in  the  reader  of 
the  book ;  \diat  we  require  is  not  a  new  Bible,  but  a  new  heart 
wherewith  to  read  the  old  Bible ;  what  we  ask  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  do  is,  not  to  make  the  Bible  more  plain,  but  to  remove  from 
the  eye  of  the  reader  of  the  Bible  the  blinding  film,  and  in  the 
clearest  light  of  God's  own  truth  to  enable  him  thus  to  see  all  % 
truth  and  light  and  love  clearly.  "  Let  him  that  hath  ears  to 
hear,  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  Churches." 

Next  comes  the  promise,  "  He  that  overcometh  shall  not  be 
hurt  of  the  second  death."  I  have  already  explained  to  you,  at 
great  length,  the  meaning  of  the  expression  "overcome."  I  de- 
scribed in  a  previous  lecture  what  I  called  "  the  Battle  of  Life," 
that  great  conflict  in  which  all  true  Christians  have  a  share.  I 
showed  you  that  where  there  is  no  conflict  in  the  heart,  there 
is  evidence  that  there  is  no  grace  there.  To  be  a  conflict,  we 
know  that  there  must  be  two  parties :  we  know  that  by  nature 
we  are  one  party,  fallen,  sinful,  ruined,  tainted;  and  the  mo- 
ment that  grace  comes  into  the  human  heart,  —  the  moment 
that  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  is  the  mightier  one,  comes  into  the 
soul  that  is  held  by  Satan,  who  is  the  mighty  one,  —  that  mo- 
ment there  is  conflict ;  two  antagonistic  powers  have  come 
into  collision,  and  one  or  other  must  obtain  the  mastery.  The 
evidence  that  you  are  Christians,  is  not  the  peacefulness 
that  reigns  within  you,  but  the  struggles,  the  agony,  the  conflict. 
Here  we  are  militant.  Hereafter  we  shall  be  triumphant.  No 
man  gives  such  strong  evidence  of  being  a  child  of  God  as  he 
who  can  say,  ''  I  find  a  law  in  my  members  warring  against  the 
law  of  my  mind,  so  that  when  I  would  do  good,  evil  is  present 
with  me.  0  wretched  man  that  I  am !  wbo  shall  deliver  me 
from  the  body  of  this  death  ?"  No  man  gives  so  little  evidence 
of  the  grace  of  God  in  his  heart  as  the  man  who  has  never  known 
what  it  is  to  grapple  with  a  temptation  that  has  long  too  easily 
beset  him,  and  in  the  strength  of  Christ  to  come  forth  more  than 
conqueror  through  him  that  loved  us.  I  know  the  question  is 
sometimes  asked.  Why  does  Christ  allow  a  conflict  to  continue 
which  He  has  only  to  interpose  his  omnipotent  arm  instantly  to 
terminate  ?   Christ  might  by  the  simple  fiat  of  his  will  extinguish 


THE  PROMISE.  215 

all  opposition  that  can  be  made  from  beneath,  from  around,  or 
from  above,  to  the  advancement  of  his  glorious  kingdom,  and 
thus,  in  all  its  beauty,  its  splendour,  and  its  glory,  bring  in  the 
millennial  age.  But  He  does  not  do  so.  This  is  enough.  God 
has  pronounced  that  the  victory  shall  not  be  thus  gained.  It  is 
most  for  his  j^ory  that  the  conflict  should  continue  as  it  is.  It  is 
his  will  that  truth  should  overcome  falsehood,  that  meekness 
should  prevail  over  cruelty,  that  grace  should  root  out  sin,  and 
that  Satan,  on  the  very  stage  on  which  he  reaped  what  he  thought 
to  be  his  everlasting  laurels,  and  by  the  very  victims  of  his  wiles, 
should  bo  taught  that  his  are  not  laurels  wreathed  around  the 
brow  of  a  conqueror,  but  j&llets  twined  around  the  head  of  a 
victim  preparatory  to  a  terrible  and  hopeless  sacrifice.  What 
Crod  has  purposed  we  are  sure  is  most  for  his  glory,  and  best  for 
our  good.  Let  us,  however,  bear  in  mind  what  I  have  stated, 
that  conflict  in  the  soul  is  the  evidence  of  grace,  and  to  have  no 
consciousness  of  conflict  is  the  evidence  that  we  are  still  in  a  state 
of  nature.  Satan  does  not  trouble  you  so  long  as  you  are  in 
"peace;"  but  the  instant  that  a  ray  of  light  breaks  into  the 
mind  —  the  instant  that  you  begin  to  emerge  from  the  thraldom 
of  sin,  and  to  assert  the  hopes  and  privileges  of  a  child  of  God, 
that  instant  the  conflict  begins  to  which  the  glorious  promise  is 
made,  "He  that  overcometh  shall  not  be  hurt  of  the  second 
death."  The  manner  of  the  conflict  may  vary ;  the  fact  of  the 
conflict  always  remains.  Each  Church  has  her  peculiar  battle ; 
each  Church  has  her  distinctive  victory ;  the  phases  of  each  con- 
flict may  vary,  the  amount,  the  brightness  and  glory  of  the  laurels 
may  difiier  in  degree,  but  the  main  conflict  is  the  same,  and  the 
laurels  are  substantially  the  same  also.  At  one  time  the  believer 
is  subjected  to  storm  and  assault;  at  another  time  to  sapping  and 
undermining.  At  one  time  he  is  burned  for  adhering  to  the 
truth ;  at  another  time  he  is  denounced  as  a  bigot,  because  he 
maintains  the  truth;  at  another  time  he  is  tempted  to  believe 
that  truth  and  error  are  the  same  in  the  sight  of  God.  To  avoid 
the  imputation  of  bigotry  many  a  true  Christian  has  been  driven 
to  compromise  the  truth.  To  avoid  the  charge  of  latitudinarian- 
ism  another  has  become  a  bigot.  We  are  exposed  to  dangers  on 
the  right  and  on  the  left ;  and  we  need  to  know  that  only  in 


216  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

the  strength  of  the  Great  Captain  of  the  faith  we  shall  be  able  to 
overcome. 

I  explained  in  a  previous  lecture  that  this  victory  is  obtained 
by  faith.  "  This  is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the  world,  even 
our  faith;"  and  I  think  I  mentioned  to  you  a  very  splendid 
illustration  of  the  victorious  energies  of  Faith,  in  y;ie  admirable, 
though  not  faultless  work  called  the  "Victory  of  Faith,"  by 
Archdeacon  Hare,  in  which  you  have  the  ''Victory  of  Faith  "  in 
all  its  degrees  and  varieties  elucidated  with  great  beauty,  force, 
and  clearness.  This  Faith  has  its  retrospective  action ;  it  looks 
to  the  cross,  and  draws  gratitude  and  love  from  it;  it  has  its 
prospective  reference ;  it  looks  forward  to  the  crown,  and  draws 
down  new  instincts,  joys,  and  attractions  from  it;  but  whether  it 
looks  backward  to  the  cross  on  which  its  sins  are  forgiven,  or 
forward  to  the  crown  it  hopes  to  obtain  and  rejoice  in  for  ever — 
it  is  in  either  and  in  every  case,  the  victory  that  overcometh  the 
world. 

We  are  told,  however,  that  there  are  other  elements  of  this 
victory,  some  of  which  I  may  here  enumerate.  "  They  overcame 
them  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb."  That  blood  "  clcanseth  from 
all  sin ;"  sin  is  the  Christian's  great  foe ;  and  this  blood  destroys 
it,  subdues  it,  deprives  it  of  its  sting,  neutralizes  its  poison, 
sweeps  away  its  condemnation  and  its  influence.  It  is  the  grand 
element  of  victory,  for  we  are  told  of  the  saints  and  martyrs 
around  the  throne,  that  "  they  overcame  by  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb." 

Faith,  as  I  have  already  stated,  is  another  element  of  victory : 
"Whom  resist,  steadfast  in  faith."  The  word  of  God  is  another 
instrument  of  victory ;  "  taking  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is 
the  word  of  God."  Prayer  is  another  means  of  victory ;  "  Watch 
and  pray,  lest  ye  enter  into  temptation."  The  Christian  is  to  be 
the  sentinel  to  watch,  the  soldier  to  fight,  and  the  priest  to  pray; 
and  only  when  he  is  all  three  can  he  overcome  and  escape  the 
second  death. 

When  a  Christian  overcomes,  what  does  he  overcome  ?  First, 
sin ;  he  overcomes,  through  the  blood  of  Christ,  its  condemning 
power;  and  he  overcomes,  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  its  polluting 
power:  the  one  is  destroyed  by  Christ's  sacrifice,  the  other  is 


■         THE  PROMISE.  217 

Bubdued  by  Christ's  Spirit :  by  means  of  the  first  he  becomes  en- 
titled to  heaven,  which  he  forfeited  by  sin ;  and  by  the  second 
he  is  made  meet  for  that  heaven  for  which  he  is  disqualified  by 
nature ;  and  thus  he  overcomes  sin,  and  enters  into  the  rest  that 
remains  for  the  people  of  God. 

Not  the  least  formidable  enemy  which  the  believer  has  to  over- 
come is  the  world.  And  what  do  I  mean  by  the  world  ?  Not 
this  material  and  mechanical  economy  of  things :  there  is  no  sin 
inherent  in  a  rosebud,  or  a  pebble,  or  in  the  varied  feathers  of  a 
bird's  wing;  in  the  beautiful  stars  that  arc  above,  or  in  flowers, 
those  yet  more  beautiful  stars  that  shine  beneath ;  there  is  no 
sin  in  these ;  there  is  nothing  tainted  or  polluted  in  them.  It  is 
no  merit  to  separate  from  the  world  mechanically ;  it  is  no  sin  to 
be  in  the  world  literally.  It  is  possible,  as  I  have  told  you,  to 
be  a  monk,  and  yet  not  to  be  a  Christian.  It  is  possible  mechani- 
cally to  come  out  of  the  world,  and  morally  to  be  in  the  midst 
of  it — to  partake  of  its  sins,  to  respond  to  its  sympathies,  and  be 
contaminated  with  its  deepest  corruption.  It  has  always  appeared 
to  me,  that  a  person  who  runs  into  a  convent  in  order  to  be  a 
good  Christian  plays  the  coward.  The  Lord,  the  great  Master 
of  all,  has  placed  the  Christian  at  his  post  as  a  sentinel,  and  bids 
him  watch,  and  wait,  and  pray,  till  he  comes;  and  he  who  rushes 
from  his  post  to  find  a  retreat  in  a  convent,  seems  to  me  to  act 
the  part,  not  of  a  Christian  soldier,  but  of  the  dastardly  coward. 
We  are  to  be  in  the  world,  discharging  the  world's  duties,  not  to 
run  out  of  the  world,  in  order  to  escape  the  world's  responsibili- 
ties; Christ's  prayer  for  his  followers  was,  "I  pray  not  that  thou 
wouldest  take  them  out  of  the  world,  but  that  thou  wouldest  keep 
them  from  the  evil."  Suppose  that  everybody  had  the  taste  and 
sympathy  of  the  monk  or  nun,  what  would  be  the  state  of  the 
world  ?  It  could  not  go  on.  The  woman  who  teaches  her  off- 
spring around  her  to  know  and  love  their  Saviour  is  less  of  the 
world,  whilst  in  it,  than  she  who  flies  from  the  world  to  escape, 
as  she  supposes,  its  contamination,  but  really  to  avoid  its  responsi- 
bilities, by  choosing  a  soft  couch  and  an  easy  chair,  and  not  a  bat- 
tle-field on  which  to  overcome  and  gain  the  prize.  The  world, 
then,  is  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eye,  and  the  pride  of 
life :  in  short,  whatever  dazzles  the  sense,  seduces  the  heart.,  leads 

19 


218  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

us  to  forget  God.  And  in  speaking  of  this  victory,  let  me  re- 
mind you,  that  men  are  overcome,  not  so  much  by  what  is  posi- 
tively sinful  in  the  world,  as  by  what  is  positively  lawful.  I  be- 
lieve more  lose  their  souls  by  the  excessive  love  of  what  is  lawful 
than  by  the  forbidden  love  of  what  is  sinful  in  itself.  You  recol- 
lect the  three  great  excuses,  an  epitome  of  all  excuses  besides, 
made  for  not  accepting  the  invitation  to  the  marriage-feast.  One 
said,  "I  have  bought  five  yoke  of  oxen" — a  perfectly  lawful 
purchase ;  but  instead  of  being  made  a  reason  for  seeking  greater 
grace,  because  there  were  larger  possessions,  it  was  made  a  rea- 
son for  rejecting  the  Gospel  altogether.  Another  said,  "I  have 
purchased  a  piece  of  ground ;"  and  instead  of  making  it  a  reason 
for  accepting  the  Gospel,  and  receiving  strength  from  on  high  to 
work  it,  and  grace  from  on  high  to  make  a  good  use  of  it,  he 
made  it  a  reason  for  refusing  the  Gospel  invitation.  The  third 
said,  "  I  have  married  a  wife,  and  therefore"  (I  take  it  for 
granted,)  "I  cannot  come;"  as  if  that,  instead  of  being  a  reason 
for  new  grace  to  sanctify  the  new  relationship,  were  rather  a  reason 
for  casting  Christianity  behind  him,  and  plunging  into  all  the 
frivolities  and  dissipation  of  the  world.  These  three  things  were 
perfectly  lawful :  and  yet  these  three  lawful  things  were  made 
reasons  for  despising  and  rejecting  the  Gospel.  Are  there  any 
in  this  assembly  so  overwhelmed  with  the  anxieties  of  business, 
that  the  Gospel,  the  Bible,  and  the  soul  are  not  thought  of?  Are 
there  any  here  so  occupied  with  the  cares  and  the  anxieties  of 
to-morrow,  that  they  have  no  time  for  the  sacred  privileges, 
duties,  and  thoughts  of  to-day  ?  Take  care :  the  world  is  over- 
coming you ;  not  a  sinful  world,  but  a  lawful  world.  It  is  possi- 
ble to  perish  by  the  excessive  love  of  the  lawful  in  the  world,  as 
it  is  to  perish  by  the  forbidden  lust  of  what  is  positively  sinful  in 
the  world.  But  they  who  are  warned  are  fore-armed;  they  who 
know  the  enemy  are  prepared  to  meet  him,  and  "  he  that  over- 
cometh  shall  not  be  hurt  of  the  second  death." 

You  will  also  have  to  meet  and  overcome  afflictions.  The 
Apostle  Paul  met  them  and  overcame  them.  "  Troubled  on 
every  side,  but  not  distressed;  perplexed,  but  not  in  despair; 
persecuted,  but  not  forsaken ;  cast  down,  but  not  destroyed." 

You  may  also  have  to  overcome  persecution.    And  what  is  the 


THE  PROMISE.  ^  219 

best  way  to  overcome  it  ?  not  by  persecuting  in  turn.  When  an 
enemy  calls  you  by  a  nickname,  do  not  retaliate ;  it  is  the  com- 
mencement of  a  fire  that  may  blaze  from  earth  to  heaven. 
"  Overcome  evil  with  good."  What  a  splendid  precept  is  that ! 
Show  me  the  like  of  it  in  the  maxims  of  Seneca,  in  the  philoso- 
phy of  Epictetus,  in  the  eloquence  of  Cicero,  in  the  morals  of 
Socrates.  You  cannot.  This  course  is  not  only  the  best  Chris- 
tianity, but  it  is  the  highest  policy.  You  know  quite  well,  that 
if,  when  you  are  persecuted,  reproached,  ill-treated,  you  retaliate, 
the  battle  becomes  fiercer  and  fiercer,  and  infinite  damage  is  done 
to  the  cause  of  Christ ;  but  when  the  brother  who  is  in  the  right 
goes  to  the  brother  who  is  in  the  wrong,  disarms  his  enmity  by 
love,  subdues  his  anger  by  kindness,  soothes  his  inveterate  hos- 
tility by  friendship,  he  has  "  overcome  evil  with  good ;"  the  foe 
is  extinguished,  and  they  who  met  in  bitter  enmity,  part  in 
friendship,  as  becomes  followers  of  their  common  Lord.  Thus, 
then,  we  overcome  evil  with  good,  and  are  ranked  among  those 
who  shall  not  be  hurt  of  the  second  death. 

I  have  thus  noticed  both  the  battle  and  the  victory  that  fol- 
lows ;  I  will  now  allude,  in  as  brief  terms  as  I  can,  to  the  nature 
of  that  expression  by  which  the  future  punishment  of  the  lost  is 
characterised  —  the  second  death.  It  is  one  of  those  themes 
which  are  too  awful  for  frail  man  to  speak  on ;  and  yet  it  is  a 
truth  enunciated  in  Scripture  so  plainly  and  so  frequently,  that 
that  minister  of  the  Gospel  is  neither  faithful  to  his  trust,  nor 
dutiful  to  his  people,  who  shrinks  from  inculcating  what  seems  to 
him,  and  may  appear  to  you  by  going  to  the  source  from  which 
he  draws  his  light,  to  be  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  This 
second  death  is  described  in  the  parallel  passages  which  I  have 
examined  at  length,  in  such  terms  as  these  5  II.  Thess.  i.  9 : 
"  Punished  with  everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord."  Matt.  xxv.  41 :  "  Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  ever- 
lasting fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels."  Notice  that 
last  expression:  the  fire  is  "everlasting;"  but  for  whom  is  it 
prepared  ?  it  is  not  "  prepared  for  you,"  it  is  not  meant  for  you, 
it  is  not  God's  purpose  that  you  should  be  plunged  into  it ;  it  is 
prepared  for  the  fallen  angels,  and  if  you  are  precipitated  into  it, 
it  is  in  spite  of,  and  not  as  the  result  of  the  preparation  of  God. 


220  ,    THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

In  Kcv.  XX.  6,  it  is  said,  "  Blessed  is  he  that  hath  part  in  ine 
first  resurrection;  on  such  the  second  death  hath  no  power." 
In  Matt.  XXV.  30,  "  Outer  darkness,  there  shall  be  weeping  and 
gnashing  of  teeth.''  In  II.  Pet.  ii.  17,  '^  To  whom  is  reserved 
the  blackness  of  darkness  for  ever."  Again,  it  is  called  re- 
peatedly "the  day  of  wrath j"  tribulation,  and  anguish,  and 
destruction;"  "wrath  to  come;"  the  "resurrection  of  con- 
demnation ;"  the  "  wages  of  sin ;"  these  are  some  of  the  scrip- 
tural expressions  by  which  this  second  death  is  denominated; 
and  if  these  descriptions  have  any  meaning,  it  is  plain  that  this 
second  death  is  not  annihilation.  Some  persons  have  tried  to 
prove  that  the  lost  are  annihilated ;  and  one  writer  has  endeavored 
to  prove  that  life  is  the  gift  of  the  Gospel,  and  annihilation  the 
natural  consequence  of  the  rejection  of  it.  I  think  that  philosophi- 
cally this  is  absurd ;  scripturally  it  is  untrue,  and  so  it  is  evil. 
There  is  distinct  evidence  that  there  is  in  man  something  that 
death  does  not  destroy.  Have  you  not  seen  the  whole  body 
verging  upon  utter  ruin,  scarcely  any  physical  power,  scarcely  any 
vigour  left,  and  yet  there  has  burst  forth  from  that  ruin  a  peace- 
fulness,  a  joy,  ideas,  hopes,  and  prospects  so  brilliant,  that  you 
scarcely  could  conceive  that  the  person  who  gave  utterance  to 
them  was  the  person  whom  you  had  seen  and  pronounced  to  be 
dull  and  stupid  in  the  days  of  health  and  strength  ?  Have  you 
not  seen,  that  when  the  outward  fabric  has  been  just  trembling 
on  the  verge  of  entire  destruction,  the  soul  has  seemed  to  light 
its  torch,  as  it  were,  at  the  expiring  embers  of  mortality,  and 
shine  forth  with  a  splendour  and  a  glory  which  intimated  that  the 
first  tides  of  the  everlasting  sea  were  touching  it,  the  first  beams 
of  an  unsetting  sun  were  beginning  already  to  irradiate  it ;  and 
so,  furnishing  in  this  simple  fact  evidence  that  the  soul  does  not 
die  with  the  body;  that  the  inhabitant,  good  or  evil,  does  not 
expire  when  the  house  goes  to  ruin ;  that  the  jewel,  redeemed  or 
lost,  is  not  destroyed  when  the  casket  is  broken  up  ? 

Every  description  of  the  future  punishment  of  the  lost  seems 
to  me  to  be  associated  with  their  sensibility  in  that  state.  What 
is  meant  by  "  fire,"  if  there  be  no  sensibility  to  its  pain  in  those 
that  are  its  victims  ?  What  is  meant  by  the  "  worm  that  never 
dies,"  if  there  be  no  consciousness  in  those  who  are  exposed  to  its 


THE  PROMISE.  221 

sting  ?  What  is  meant  by  "  the  wrath  of  God  abiding  upon 
them,"  if  they  be  annihilated  ?  Does  not  the  expression  "  the 
wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him,"  imply  that  he  is  sensible  of  that 
wrath,  and  is  enduring  all  the  penalty  of  it?  and,  if  so,  then 
he  is  not  annihilated;  when  he  dies,  he  lives.  The  lost  in 
ruin  shall  live  with  all  the  consciousness  of  their  consuming 
curse,  and  the  saved  in  glory  shall  live  in  all  the  sweetness 
of  their  unspeakable  and  glorious  felicity  and  joy.  This  second 
death  is  associated  with  all  that  is  exclusively  evil.  Every  picture 
of  the  state  of  the  lost  contains  only  what  is  exclusively  evil. 
Take  away  from  this  world  those  gleams  of  primeval  beauty,  of 
holiness,  and  happiness,  that  linger  in  its  untrodden  places,  and 
occasionally  flash  forth  from  it ;  take  away  from  this  earth  all  the 
traces  of  its  young  glory — leave  nothing  but  sin  and  sinful  men 
in  it;  and  what  a  terrible  world  would  it  be  !  and  yet  would  this 
be  a  faint  miniature  of  hell !  You  know  how  a  delicate  mind 
shrinks  from  the  contact  of  the  impure  in  this  world;  you  know 
how  a  holy  man  dreads  the  language  and  shrinks  from  breathing 
the  air  of  the  unholy,  the  polluted,  and  the  guilty.  Think,  then, 
what  the  state  of  the  lost  must  be,  when  all  is  contamination, 
impurity,  unholiness — all  that  is  horrible  to  a  saint,  and  must  be 
intolerable  even  to  the  unhappy  victims  who  have  to  endure  it 
unmingled  for  ever  and  ever. 

And  in  the  second  death,  too,  there  will  be  let  loose  every  evil 
passion,  every  unholy  propensity.  I  doubt,  if  there  is  in  hell  a 
literal  fire,  any  more  than  I  believe  that  there  is  a  literal  living 
worm.  The  language  used  is,  I  think,  figurative,  and  meant  to 
denote  the  misery,  the  distress,  and  the  woe  of  them  that  are 
there.  It  seems  designed  to  show,  by  appealing  to  the  strongest 
experience  of  humanity,  what  are  the  misery  and  anguish  which 
are  the  doom  of  the  lost.  It  is  an  intimation  of  the  effect  of 
letting  loose,  unchecked,  all  impure,  hateful,  and  unholy  human 
passions,  that  we  may  in  some  degree  conceive  the  terrible  effects 
of  the  collision  of  ambition,  of  hatred,  of  envy,  of  sensuality. 
It  requires  no  material  fire  additional  to  unsanctified  human  pas- 
sions to  constitute  a  hell  too  terrible  for  human  language  to  ex- 
press. It  is  enough  to  know  there  will  bo  no  presence  of  God 
there ;  that  his  curse  will  rest  upon  all,  and  his  blessing  over- 

19* 


222  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

shadow  none  j  that  his  wrath  unmingled  and  unceasing  will  be 
felt  for  ever — that  conscience  will  be  restored  to  its  highest  sensi- 
bility, and  memory  conjure  up  each  stinging  recollection  of  the 
past.  So  will  it  be  hell.  The  words  used  by  Milton  to  describe 
the  condition  of  the  lost  will  be  true  of  this  state. 

"  Farewell,  happy  fields. 
Where  joy  for  ever  dwells.     Hail,  horrors ! 
Hail,  infernal  world !  and  thou,  profoundest  hell, 
Receive  thy  new  possessor — me  !  miserable. 
Whither  shall  I  fly  ?    Which  way  I  fly  is  hell— 
Myself  am  hell. 

And  in  the  lowest  deep,  a  lower  deep 
Still  threatening  to  devour  him,  opens  wide, 
To  which  the  hell  ho  suffers  seems  a  heaven." 

I  have  dwelt  upon  a  picture  charged  with  so  awful  colors,  only 
to  lead  you  to  estimate,  from  a  sight  of  the  depth  into  which  sin 
has  sunk  humanity,  the  magnificence  and  the  might  of  that  mercy 
which  sent  a  Saviour  to  shed  his  blood  to  redeem  us,  and  gave  a 
Bible  to  make  known  to  us  the  glad  tidings  of  that  glorious 
Gospel  which  proclaims  deliverance  to  the  captive,  healing  to  the 
sick,  sight  to  the  blind,  and  everlasting  life  to  all  that  believe, 
though  once  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins.  I  gather  from  the  whole 
of  this  promise,  "  He  that  ovcrcometh  shall  not  be  hurt  of  the 
second  death,"  that  the  whole  blame  rests  on  ourselves  if  we  are 
doomed  to  be  precipitated  into  that  yawning  ruin.  It  lies  with 
ourselves,  (I  say  it  advisedly,)  to  escape  that  ruin  and  enter  into 
everlasting  joy.  For,  in  the  first  place,  I  cannot  find  in  the  Bible, 
from  its  commencement  to  its  close,  that  there  is  any  irresistible 
decree  that  condemns  us  to  everlasting  perdition.  Every  soul 
that  reaches  the  realms  of  glory,  does  so  by  free,  unmerited,  so- 
vereign grace ;  every  soul  that  tastes  of  the  second  death,  cleaves 
to  so  dire  a  doom  in  spite  of  a  thousand  protesting  voices  and 
obstructing  elements.  The  saved  in  heaven  will  ever  have  the 
recollection,  we  have  done  nothing  but  what  is  decreed  —  Christ 
did  all  for  us,  from  the  first  breath  of  life  to  the  latest  pulse  of 
glory.  The  lost  in  hell  will  ever  have  the  corroding  agony  of  the 
thought,  "  I  did  it  all  myself,  and  nobody  put  me  here  contrary 
to  my  will,  or  against  my  own  purpose,  progress,  and'knowledge." 


THE  PROMISE.  223 

We  shall  feel  ia  the  realms  of  the  saved,  "  it  is  all  by  grace ;" 
and  they  will  feel  who  are  in  the  realms  of  the  lost  that  it  is  all 
their  own  doing.  Hence,  the  lost  in  hell  are  as  such,  suicides ; 
they  destroyed  themselves,  and  none  did  it  for  them.  Every 
step  that  the  sinner  takes  to  misery,  he  takes  in  spite  of  a  thou- 
sand commands  —  in  the  face  of  ten  thousand  warnings,  in  defi- 
ance of  eloquent  entreaty,  pressing  remonstrance,  earnest  warning, 
and  threatening.  Every  step  that  a  sinner  takes  towards  ever- 
lasting perdition,  he  marches  against  the  opposing  point  of  God's 
own  sword.  He  has  to  work  and  fight  and  clear  his  way  to  hell — 
he  works  hard  at  sin  and  earns  justly  its  terrible  wages.  God 
tells  us  in  his  own  word  that  "  He  is  not  willing  that  any  should 
perish."  I  believe  these  words  strictly  and  literally ;  "  He  will 
have  all  men  to  Ke  saved."  This  is  not  make-believe.  I  accept 
his  invitation,  "Turn  unto  me;  why  will  ye  die?"  and  I  believe 
his  invitation,  "  Come  unto  me,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  I 
have  full  confidence  in  the  words,  "The  Spirit  and  the  bride 
say.  Come.  And  let  him  that  heareth  say.  Come.  And  let  him 
that  is  athirst  come.  And  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the 
water  of  life  freely."  Now  I  cannot  explain  away  these  words : 
I  take  them  just  as  God  has  pronounced  them ;  and  I  hold  them 
to  be  strictly  and  literally  true.  Then,  my  dear  friends,  is  it  not 
a  very  solemn  thing  for  you  to  know  that  you  are  welcome  to  the 
bosom  of  God,  and  and  that  yet  you  will  not  come  ?  that  you  are 
invited  to  the  realms  of  glory,  and  yet  you  will  not  hearken  ?  Is 
it  not  a  very  solemn  thing  to  know  that  there  is  instant,  glorious 
pardon  for  every  sinner  that  will,  and  yet  that  any  man  should 
retire  without  accepting  the  proffered  boon,  to  criticise  the 
speaker's  style,  or  to  review  the  preacher's  manner,  or  to  engage 
in  any  conversation  that  will  keep  the  arrow  from  the  conscience, 
the  truth  from  contact  with  his  soul  ?  Again,  if  I  look  at  what 
God's  provision  is,  I  see  every  reason  to  lead  me  to  infer  that  it 
is  not  God's  purpose  or  God's  decree  that  any  should  be  lost  who 
are  willing  to  be  saved.  When  we  were  without  strength  Christ 
died  for  us :  when  Christ  rose  again,  he  sent  his  Holy  Spirit  to 
intercede  and  plead  within  us.  What  is  the  utterance  of  that 
beautiful  book,  the  Bible — what  is  the  eloquence  from  ten  thou- 
sand pulpits — what  are  those  lingering  instincts  in  the  depths  of 


224  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

your  heart — those  trembling  fears,  reminiscences,  protests,  in  the 
legislative  chambers  of  conscience,  but  the  unspent  accents  of  the 
voice  of  God  warning  you,  entreating  you  not  to  die,  but  to  over- 
come the  world,  and  so  not  be  hurt  of  the  second  death  ?  I  repeat 
it  then,  again,  that  there  is  mercy  and  forgiveness  in  the  blood 
of  Christ  for  all  that  will,  and  if  any  man  taste  the  bitterness  of 
the  second  death,  let  him  recollect  that  he  does  so  for  no  reason 
upon  earth  but  that  he  turned  his  back  upon  God,  and  directed 
his  face  to  perdition. 

I  now  close  my  remarks  upon  the  epistle  to  the  Church  of 
Smyrna.  The  present  state  of  Smyrna  fulfils  the  prophecy. 
Christianity  exists,  and  though  very  dark,  yet  lingers  in  the  midst 
of  it. 

"  It  is  a  city  of  Ionia,  in  Asia  Minor ;  it  was  one  of  the  most 
ancient  and  flourishing  of  the  colonies  which  the  Ionian  Greeks 
founded  on  the  Asiatic  side  of  the  ^gean  sea;  and  the  excel- 
lence of  its  situation,  on  one  of  the  finest  bays  in  the  world,  has 
saved  it  from  being  involved  in  the  fate  which  has  overwhelmed 
most  of  the  ancient  cities  of  the  Anatolia.  It  claimed  to  be  the 
birth-place  of  Homer,  and  several  modern  critics  are  of  opinion, 
that  the  claim  is  better  founded  than  that  of  any  of  the  six  other 
cities  which  contended  for  the  honour.  It  is  mentioned  only 
once  in  Scripture,  as  one  of  the  Seven  Apocalyptic  Churches. 
(Rev.  ii.  1.)  The  angel  of  the  Church  at  Smyrna,  when  the 
book  of  Revelation  was  written,  is  stated  by  ecclesiastical  histo- 
rians to  have  been  the  venerable  Polycarp,  a  disciple  of  the 
Evangelist  St.  John.  The  message  to  the  Church  at  Smyrna  is 
an  afiectionate  forewarning  of  the  persecution  to  which  it  was 
about  to  be  exposed,  and  of  which  Polycarp  was  the  earliest  and 
most  distinguished  victim. 

"  The  modern  town  of  Smyrna  does  not  occupy  the  precise 
position  of  the  ancient  city;  in  consequence  of  the  earthquakes 
to  which  the  southern  hills  were  exposed,  the  citizens  gradually 
removed  farther  and  farther  to  the  north,  until  the  original  pre- 
cincts were  quite  deserted.  The  present  city  is  divided  into  two 
parts,  the  upper  and  lower ;  the  first  being  inhabited  by  Turks 
and  Jews,  the  second  by  Armenians,  Greeks,  and  Franks.  All 
the  fine  and  remarkable  buildings  are  in  the  lower  town ;  it  con- 


THE  PROMISE.  225 

tains  the  markets,  bazaars,  shops,  and  stores,  and  it  exhibits  all 
the  activity  and  animation  belonging  to  a  great  commercial  mart 
and  a  crowded  seaport.  The  upper  town  is  bounded  by  extensive 
cemeteries,  and  appears  almost  as  tranquil  as  those  abodes  of  the 
dead ;  the  houses  are  mean,  the  windows  closely  barred  like  those 
of  prisons,  and  the  streets  all  but  deserted. 

"  The  Italians  call  Smyrna  the  *  Flower  of  the  Levant,'  and 
some  French  travellers  have  named  it  the  *  Miniature  Paris  of 
the  East ;'  but,  though  far  superior  to  most  Turkish  cities,  it  is 
not  quite  deserving  of  these  flattering  appellations.  Fifteen  hun- 
dred years  ago,  Strabo  complained  that  the  ancient  city  was  defi- 
cient in  its  sewerage,  and  the  modern  city  is  equally  in  want  of 
this  necessary  accommodation.  Hence  the  centre  of  the  narrow 
streets  is  usually  a  filthy  channel  choked  with  all  sorts  of  impuri- 
ties, from  whence  pestilential  exhalations  arise,  which  renders 
Smyrna  the  very  metropolis  of  plague  and  fever.  Within  the 
last  few  years  some  good  streets  have  been  laid  out  in  the  lower 
town,  and  several  excellent  houses  built  by  merchants  in  the 
suburbs;  but  still  the  old  streets  are  so  narrow  that  a  loaded 
camel  fills  them  up  from  one  side  to  the  other,  and  the  passenger 
who  meets  one  of  these  animals  often  finds  it  diflacult  to  get  out 
of  the  way. 

"  One  of  the  circumstances  which  strikes  a  European  most 
forcibly  on  visiting  Smyrna,  is  the  great  diversity  of  the  nations 
which  have  contributed  to  supply  it  with  inhabitants.  The 
citizens  are  distinct  from  each  other  in  religion,  language, 
dress,  and  manners ;  each  race  has  its  own  ceremonies,  its  own 
feasts,  and  even  its  own  calendar.  It  is  not  at  all  unusual  for  one 
race  to  celebrate  a  festival  on  a  day  devoted  by  another  race  to 
penance  and  fasting.  The  Turks  close  their  shops  on  Friday, 
the  Jews  on  Saturday,  and  the  Armenians,  Greeks,  and  Franks 
on  Sunday.  There  is  no  intermarriage  nor  social  communication 
between  these  different  races ;  they  never  meet  each  other  except 
in  the  market-place,  and  they  only  converse  together  on  the  price 
of  cotton  and  opium,  or  the  rate  of  exchange  between  piastres 
and  dollars.  The  distinction  of  race  is  more  strongly  marked 
amongst  the  women  than  amongst  the  men.  The  Greek  and 
Frank   ladies   have   their  faces  uncovered,  the  Armenian  and 


226  THE  CHURCH  OF  SMYRNA. 

Jewish  allow  about  half  of  the  countenance  to  be  seen,  while  the 
Turkish  women  hide  every  feature  but  the  eyes.  A  stranger 
would  be  led  to  believe  that  more  languages  were  spoken  in 
Smyrna  than  in  any  city  that  has  existed  since  Babel.  On  one 
side  caravans  and  strings  of  camels  pour  in  from  every  part  of 
Central  Asia,  Syria,  and  Arabia ;  on  the  other,  fleets  crowd  the 
harbour  from  all  the  maritime  states  of  Europe  and  America. 
The  general  medium  of  communication  is  the  Lingua  Franga,  a 
barbarous  jargon  compounded  of  bad  Italian  and  worse  Arabic, 
together  with  a  plentiful  admixture  of  vulgarisms  and  nautical 
phrases  from  every  language  in  Europe.  Religious  toleration  has 
always  been  more  freely  granted  in  Smyrna  than  in  any  other 
Turkish  city ;  and  when  there  has  been  any  outbreak  of  Mussul- 
man fanaticism,  it  has  been  directed  against  the  Jews  and 
Greeks,  rarely  against  the  Europeans.  The  population  of  Smyrna 
is  supposed  to  exceed  one  hundred  thousand,  and  it  is  rapidly 
increasing,  especially  since  the  police  of  the  place  has  been  im- 
proved and  greater  security  afforded  to  life  and  property.  In  no 
place  is  the  decline  of  Turkish  fanaticism  more  apparent,  for  the 
European  consuls  are  ever  ready  to  resent  the  slightest  insult 
offered  to  Christians  what-ever  may  be  their  denomination.  In 
consequence  of  this  protection  the  processions  of  the  Greek  and 
Latin  Churches  pass  freely  through  the  streets,  and  some  of  the 
latter  are  so  gorgeously  conducted  that  a  spectator  might  suppose 
himself  in  a  city  of  Italy  rather  than  of  Turkey." 

It  has  been  noticed  that  this  Church  and  that  of  Philadelphia 
are  the  only  two  to  whom  a  promise  of  vitality  is  given,  and  in 
consequence  they  are  the  only  two  of  the  seven  churches  of  Asia 
at  this  moment  in  which  there  is  anything  like  a  considerable 
Christian  Church  left. 

We  learn  from  all  this,  and  from  the  history  especially  of  the 
Church  of  Smyrna,  that  the  strength  of  the  Church  of  Christ, 
whether  Church  local,  or  Church  provincial,  or  Church  national, 
or  Church  universal,  is  not  the  acts  of  parliament  that  establish 
it,  nor  the  wealth  in  the  pockets  of  those  who  occupy  its  pews 
and  so  support  it,  but  the  living  Christianity  in  the  hearts  of  its 
ministers  and  its  people,  and  the  strength  of  our  nation's  Chijjrch 


THE  PROMISE.  227 

will  be  found  in  the  days  of  trial  that  are  coming  on,  to  consist 
in  the  living  religion  of  its  people.  Give  rae  Presbyterian 
(/hurch,  Episcopal  Church,  Independent,  or  Wesleyan,  but  give 
me,  above  and  beyond  them  all,  a  living  Church.  I  care  not  so 
much  for  the  shell  if  the  kernel  be  there ;  I  mind  not  so  much 
the  beauty  of  the  chasing  or  the  splendour  of  the  lamp  if  pure 
oil  be  in  it,  and  the  flame  that  is  lit  from  the  eternal  altar  blaze 
upon  it.  I  care  not  for  the  shape  of  the  candlestick,  if  it  bear 
a  candle  lighted  from  on  high  to  lead  me  to  the  Lamb.  Depend 
upon  it  that  the  day  is  coming,  ay,  and  is  already  come,  when, 
if  Churches  fall  back  upon  the  length  of  their  ecclesiastical 
lineage,  or  upon  the  wealth  of  those  that  constitute  their  congre- 
gations, or  upon  tradition,  or  upon  the  state,  they  will  find  that 
they  lean  on  a  foundation  that  will  assuredly  fail  them.  Nothing 
but  living,  Protestant  Christianity,  will  avail  us  in  the  days  that 
are  soon  to  overtake  us.  Luther  said,  the  doctrine  of  justifica- 
tion by  faith  is  the  article  of  a  standing  or  a  falling  Church ;  we 
may  add,  that  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  article  of  a 
living  or  a  dying  Church. 


LECTURE  XrV. 

THE  FAITHFUL    MARTYR. 

"  And  to  the  angel  of  the  Church  in  Pergamos  write;  These  things  saith  ho 
•which  hath  the  sharp  sword  with  two  edges;  I  know  thy  works,  and  whero 
thou  dwellest,  even  where  Satan's  seat  is  :  and  thou  holdest  fast  my  name, 
and  hast  not  denied  my  faith,  even  in  those  days  wherein  Antipas  was  my 
faithful  martyr,  who  was  slain  among  yon,  where  Satan  dwelleth." — Ret.  ii. 
12,  13. 

Before  proceeding  to  unfold  the  commendation  here  bestowed 
upon  his  Church  by  the  great  Head  of  that  Church,  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  I  should  like  to  show  you  what  I  omitted  in  my 
closing  discourse  upon  the  Epistle  to  the  Church  of  Smyrna,  last 
Sunday  evening,  the  evidence  of  the  fulfilment  of  all  the  promises 
contained  in  that  address.  You  observe  that  the  address  to  the 
Church  of  Smyrna  is  characterised  by  special  eulogy :  ''  I  know 
thy  works,  and  thy  tribulation,  and  thy  povert}',  but  thou  art 
rich;"  "fear  none  of  those  things  which  thou  shalt  suffer;" 
"thou  shalt  have  tribulation  ten  days;"  "be  faithful  unto  death, 
and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life."  Throughout  the  whole  of 
this  beautiful  address  to  the  Church  of  Smyrna  there  is  scarcely 
a  syllable  of  censure ;  all  is  commendation,  all  indicates  that  this 
Church  was  one  of  the  most  faithful  and  devoted  of  the  seven ; 
and  we  may  expect,  if  the  principle  I  have  endeavored  to  esta- 
blish be  correct,  viz.,  that  God  deals  with  Churches  just  accord- 
ing to  their  faithfulness,  that  He  will  have  dealt  in  mercy  and  in 
love  with  the  then  faithful,  though  now  waning,  Church  of 
Smyrna.  To  show  you,  therefore,  how  strikingly  this  has  been 
fulfilled,  I  read  to  you  what  Mr.  Hartwell  Home  has  collected 
from  various  sources,  explanatory  of  the  present  state  of  the 
Church  at  Smyrna ;  which  proved  that  whilst  every  one  of  the 
20  228 


THE  FAITHFUL  MARTYR.  229 

seven  Churches,  with  one  single  exception  besides,  has  utterly 
ceased  because  of  its  unfaithfulness,  this  Church  and  the  Church 
of  Philadelphia,  the  only  two  who  were  more  or  less  faithful 
among  the  seven,  exist,  in  greater  or  less  purity,  at  the  present 
day.  I  admit  the  eulogium  is  not  very  splendid ;  it  is,  however, 
sufiBcient  to  show  that  whilst  Ephesus  has  left  her  scarcely  a  trace 
of  its  primeval  Christianity,  Smyrna  still  exists  as  a  Christian 
Church,  the  Scriptures  are  read  in  it,  and,  more  or  less  imper- 
fectly, Christianity  is  proclaimed  in  the  midst  of  it. 

I  now  pass  on  to  the  consideration  of  the  epistle  I  have  read. 
The  last  epistle,  addressed  to  Smyrna,  breathes,  as  I  told  you, 
almost  unmingled  eulogium.  The  epistle  addressed  to  Pergamos 
is  full  of  censure,  admonition,  and  rebuke,  though  the  portion  I 
have  selected  for  this  evening's  exposition  is  in  some  degree  eulo- 
gistic, commending  the  good  that  was  in  her  before  it  proceeded 
to  rebuke  the  evil  of  which  she  has  been  guilty.  The  character- 
istic attribute  here  given  to  Christ  is,  "  He  that  hath  the  sharp 
sword  with  two  edges."  This  is  a  portion  of  the  picture  con- 
tained in  the  first  chapter,  and  here  repeated,  "  He  had  a  sharp 
two-edged  sword  going  out  of  his  mouth ;"  and  that  sharp  two- 
edged  sword  is  defined  by  the  Apostle  Paul  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  where  he  tells  us,  ''  The  word  of  God  is  quick  and 
powerful,  and  sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword,  piercing  even 
to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit,  and  of  the  joints  and 
marrow,  and  is  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart." 
The  meaning  of  the  word  "quick,"  as  applied  to  the  Bible, 
is,  that  it  is  "  living  ;"  that  it  is  not  a  dead  history  of  an  age  that 
has  passed  away,  and  to  be  regarded  like  an  old  almanac,  or  a 
picture  of  scenes  that  have  expired ;  but  that  it  is  a  living  Bible, 
which  speaks  to  the  nineteenth  century  with  as  great  pertinency 
and  as  full  authority  as  it  spoke  to  the  first  in  which  it  was 
written ;  no  philosophy  has  ever  soared  above  it,  no  researches 
have  ever  dug  below  it;  it  is  still  the  Book  of  books,  as  truly  so, 
and  visibly  more  so  in  the  century  in  which  our  lot  is  cast,  as  it 
was  the  Book  of  books  in  the  age  in  which  it  was  first  penned. 
The  Bible  never  waxes  old ;  humanity  never  outgrows  the  Bible. 
There  never  will  be  a  day  when  the  Bible  shall  be  inapplicable 
to  man,  or  when  man's  attainments  shall  be  so  high,  and  man's 

20 


230  THE  CHURCH  OF  PERGAMOS. 

progress  so  brilliantly  developed,  that  lie  will  be  enabled  to  walk 
in  the  light  of  his  own  mind,  without  the  aid  of  that  lamp  to  his 
feet  and  light  to  his  path  which  has  been  kindled  from  the  upper 
glory. 

This  description  of  it,  as  "a  sharp  sword  with  two  edges," 
denotes,  perhaps,  that  it  sweeps  away  with  the  one  edge  the  veil 
that  conceals  man's  heart  from  God,  and  with  the  other  edge  the 
veil  that  conceals  God's  love,  and  mercy,  and  forgiveness  from 
man  ;  and  thus  it  brings  God,  who  is  by  nature  remote,  and  man, 
who  is  by  nature  sinful  and  averse,  into  close,  affectionate,  eternal 
communion  and  fellowship.  This  sword  is  spoken  of  as  proceed- 
ing from  Christ's  mouth ;  probably  it  is  said  to  come  from  Christ's 
mouth,  and  to  be  held  by  him,  in  order  to  teach  us  that  unless 
Christ  wield  it,  it  cannot  have  any  saving  effect.  Even  God's 
word  itself,  so  fraught  with  power,  so  quick  with  life,  so  instinct 
with  eloquence,  will  fall  cold  and  dead  on  man's  heart,  unless  the 
God  that  inspired  it,  accompany,  apply,  and  impress  it.  What 
an  awful  truth  is  this  !  What  an  evidence  of  the  corruption  of 
man's  heart,  that  God's  word  alone  cannot  raise  it,  nor  God's 
truth  alone  sanctify  it  —  if  it  need  God's  omnipotence  to  apply 
God's  inspired  truth  before  that  heart  can  be  sanctified,  how  hard 
must  it  be  !  This  sword,  of  so  keen  and  ethereal  temper  that, 
like  the  Damascus  blade  of  old,  it  can  trim  a  feather  or  cleave  a 
bar  of  iron,  needs  yet,  in  order  to  be  productive  of  a  saving  effect, 
the  hand  that  made  it  to  wield  and  to  apply  it. 

Perhaps  there  is  a  second  sense  in  which  Christ  is  represented 
here  as  armed  with  this  sword  :  it  may  denote  that  he  comes  in 
judgment.  We  have  a  parallel  passage  to  this  in  verse  16 : 
"  Repent,  or  else  I  will  come  and  fight  against  them  with  the 
sword  of  my  mouth;"  and.  Rev.  xiv.  15,  '^Out  of  his  mouth 
goeth  a  sharp  sword,  that  with  it  he  should  smite  the  nations." 
It  may  denote,  therefore,  that,  as  this  Church  is  particularly 
sinful,  Christ  comes  to  tji&t  Church  in  his  judicial  capacity.  I 
may  here  notice  again  the  truth  I  have  so  often  endeavoured  to 
impress  upon  you,  that  God  deals  with  Churches,  and  with 
nations,  in  a  way  totally  different  from  that  in  which  he  deals 
with  individuals.  In  the  perfect  state  of  the  Church,  the  Church 
national  has  no  existence ;  in  heaven  there  are  no  ecclesiastical 


THE  FAITHFUL  MARTYR.  231 

corporations ;  they  are  therefore  rewarded,  or  they  are  punished, 
in  time.  So  also  there  will  be  no  nations  in  heaven ;  they  exist 
but  in  time ;  their  punishments  or  their  rewards  are,  therefore, 
felt  in  time.  When  God  deals  with  a  Church,  he  wastes  it,  if  it 
be  sinful ;  he  blesses  it,  if  it  be  faithful :  and  when  he  deals  with 
a  nation,  he  prospers  it,  if  it  cleaves  to  him ;  he  forsakes  it,  and 
leaves  it  to  its  own  counsels,  if  it  apostatizes  from  him.  He 
therefore  comes  to  this  Church,  not  in  the  attitude  of  love,  but 
of  righteous  retribution.  He  comes  to  the  individual  sinner, 
beseeching  him  to  believe,  and  repent,  and  live ;  but  he  comes  to 
a  sinful  Church  in  his  judicial  capacity,  with  the  sharp  two-edged 
sword,  to  visit  and  to  punish  her. 

But  he  begins,  as  I  have  said,  with  an  eulogy  of  what  is  good ; 
that  is  our  true  way  to  rebuke  another.  Never  break  forth  at 
once  in  censure,  when  you  go  to  tell  a  brother  his  sins  ;  first  begin 
with  praising  what  is  good,  before  you  attempt  to  censure  what 
is  wrong ;  you  will  thus  have  opened  the  way  to  the  heart,  for 
the  arrow  that  is  feathered  with  love  will  fly  the  swiftest,  and 
pierce  the  deepest;  applaud  the  good  that  is  in  thy  brother  before 
thou  proceedest  to  rebuke  the  evil  that  is  also  in  him.  So  our 
Lord  here  says,  "  I  know  thy  works."  He  then  adds,  "  I  know, 
too,  where  thou  dwellest,  even  where  Satan's  seat  is."  That  is, 
I  am  quite  aware  of  the  trials  to  which  you  are  exposed ;  and  I 
am  well  pleased  with  this,  that  "  thou  boldest  fast  my  name,  and 
hast  not  denied  my  faith ;"  and  that,  too,  in  the  worst  of  times, 
"  wherein  Antipas  was  my  faithful  martyr."  How  beautiful  is 
the  statement  here  made  by  our  Lord,  "  I  know  thy  works !" 
There  is  not  a  secret  thought  of  benevolence  that  does  not,  like 
a  ray  of  light,  rise  from  the  earth,  and  shoot  its  splendours  upon 
the  throne  of  Deity;  there  is  not  a  deed  of  benevolence,  however 
secret  and  sequestered  that  deed  may  be,  that  has  not  an  echo  in 
heaven,  distinctly  heard  above  the  seven  thunders.  There  is 
nothing  that  a  believer  does,  or  desires  to  do  where  he  has  not 
the  power  to  do  it,  for  his  glory,  and  for  the  honour  of  his  name, 
that  Christ  does  not  see.  Therefore,  my  dear  brethren,  be  satis- 
fied to  do  good  in  the  eyes  of  Christ ;  mind  not  that  no  trumpet 
sounds  when  you  do  it,  and  that  no  register  records  your  benefi- 
cence, when  the  eye  of  Him  to  whom  all  hearts  are  open  sees 


232  THE  CHURCH  OF  PERGAMOS. 

it;  and  the  hand  that  was  nailed  to  the  cross  for  us  will  shower 
down  abundant  blessings  in  answer  to  it. 

Especially  does  our  Lord  sympathise  here  with  the  situation  of 
his  Church.  "I  know  where  thou  dwellestj"  I  am  fully  alive 
to  all  the  difficulties  of  your  position  ;  I  am  perfectly  aware  that 
you  are  tossing  like  a  bark  upon  the  stormy  wave;  I  see  you,  like^ 
a  lonely  rose  blooming  in  the  desert  alone ;  I  see  you,  like  a  fair; 
floweret  amid  the  Alpine  snows ;  or  in  the  bosom  of  the  avalanche, 
where  one  can  scarcely  anticipate  you  will  last  for  an  hour.  I 
know  all  the  difficulties  and  the  perils  of  your  position,  and  I 
sympathise  with  you.  My  dear  friends,  in  the  great  conflict  in 
which  the  human  heart  is  plunged,  to  have,  even  in  this  world, 
one  who  has  a  response  of  kindness  for  all  our  trials, — to  have, 
even  in  this  world,  one  who  ever  has  an  expression  of  sympathy 
with  our  sufi'erings, — takes  off"  half  the  pressure  ;  it  takes  away  the 
bitterest  sting  of  all  the  ills  with  which  we  are  surrounded  :  but  to 
know  that  the  most  silent  sufferer  is  not  without  sympathy, — that 
the  most  lonely  sufferer  is  knit  by  an  electric  chain  to  Him  who  sits 
upon  the  throne,  is  sympathised  with  and  interceded  for, —  should 
indeed  make  us  feel  that  "  the  sufi'erings  of  this  present  time  are 
not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory"  that  is  now  realized,  as 
well  as  that  which  shall  be  revealed  to  us.  Christ  thus  sympa- 
thises with  his  Church,  "  I  know  where  thou  dwellest ;"  —  and 
now  to  apply  this  to  ourselves.  Some  of  you,  perhaps,  are  placed 
in  a  family  where  the  worship  of  God  is  neglected, — where  the 
Bible  is  a  joke, — whcre-prayer  is  mocked  at, — and  where  religion 
is  pronounced  to  be  fanaticism,  and  your  anxiety  about  your  soul 
the  very  essence  of  folly.  You  are  in  a  trying  position.  Or  some 
young  man  in  this  assembly  is  in  a  house  of  business,  where  one 
is  a  skeptic,  another  is  a  Romanist,  a  third  is  a  blasphemer,  and 
a  fourth  is  a  sinful,  abandoned,  and  profligate  man.  Christ  whis- 
pers to  the  member  of  that  godless  family, — Christ  speaks  to  the 
Christian  in  that  atheistic  house  of  business :  "  I  know  where 
thou  dwellest ;"  I  feel  the  difficulties  of  your  position ;  I  truly 
sympathise  with  you.  But  you  ask,  what  are  you  to  do  in  such 
a  position  ?  Look  to  Him  who  has  expressed  his  sympathy  with 
you  for  divine  strength  to  sustain  you.  Just  feel  what  I  have 
often  told  you,  that  every  Christian  is  a  missionary :  you  are  a 


THE  FAITHFUL  MARTYR.  233 

domestic  missionary,  or  a  missionary  in  some  sphere  where  mis- 
sionaries are  unknown.  Christ  has  placed  you  there ;  his  sympa- 
thy is  expressed  towards  you ;  his  strength  will  be  made  perfect 
in  your  weakness.  You  are  a  soldier  in  the  van, — shrink  not  be- 
cause the  enemy  is  mighty;  you  bear  consecrated  colors, —  furl 
them  not  till  the  Great  Captain  of  the  faith  shall  command  you. 
Let  the  lustre  of  Christian  love,  rather  than  the  loudness  of 
Christian  profession,  draw  the  blasphemer,  the  ungodly,  and 
those  that  deny  Christ,  to  accept  the  Gospel.  Do  not  speak  to 
them  so  much  divine  words,  but  rather  live  in  the  midst  of  them 
divine  life;  and  though  your  influence  be  silent,  though  it  be 
slow,  though  it  fall  soft  like  the  dew,  it  will,  like  the  dew,  be 
saturating  also,  and  you  will  see  the  fruit  of  it  after  many  days. 
If  you  are  light,  your  rays  will  be  seen ;  if  you  are  salt,  your  in- 
fluence will  be  felt.  Do  not  all  covet  to  be  the  lights  of  the 
world,  because  they  are  seen  and  admired  by  man ;  but  far  rather 
covet  to  be  the  secret  and  unseen  salt  of  the  world,  which  gains 
no  credit  from  the  world  around,  but  which  works  with  certainty, 
though  with  secresy,  and  keej|  the  world  from  corruption,  and 
mankind  from  ruin.  So,  my  dear  friends,  wherever  you  are, 
where  God  is  not  honored,  or  where  the  Gospel  is  blasphemed 
and  denied,  feel  this,  that  you  have  a  divine  mission.  You  are 
not  there  by  chance ;  there  is  no  such  thing  as  chance  in  the 
heights  or  in  the  depths  :  you  may  find  "  chance"  in  a  heathen's 
pantheon,  but  never  is  there  such  a  word  in  a  Christian's  Bible, 
and  never  was  there  known  such  an  influence  in  a  Christian's 
life.  There  is  no  chance  in  little  things,  or  in  great  things. 
You  know  that  little  circumstances  are  often  the  hinges  of  great 
events.  A  spark  struck  from  the  heel  of  a  random  revolutionist 
may  ignite  a  capital,  and  throw  an  empire  into  conflagration. 
Many  a  one  can  testify  that  it  was  the  turning  of  a  corner  that 
was  the  turning  of  his  life ;  it  was  what  the  world  calls  an  "  acci- 
dental" stumbling  into  an  "  accidental"  chapel,  where  you  heard 
an  "  accidental"  sermon,  that  was  the  commencement  of  a  life 
which  shall  not  cease  until  that  life  is  lost  in  the  happiness  of 
the  beatific  vision,  and  he  that  now  suff"ers  in  secret  shall  soar 
and  shine  with  the  cherubim  around  the  throne  of  God.  Your 
position,  therefore,  is  a  divine  one.     The  same  hand  that  placed 

20  » 


234  THE  CHURCH  OF  PERGAMOS. 

nic  in  the  pulpit  placed  you  in  that  shop;  and  you  can  glorify 
God  behind  that  counter,  just  as  I  may  glorify  God  by  preaching 
from  this  place.  And  the  man  who  thinks  he  cannot  serve  God 
as  a  servant,  depend  upon  it,  would  be  no  better  if  he  were 
exalted  to  be  a  master.  We  are  to  seize  the  circumstances  that 
surround  us,  and  make  them  vehicles  of  good ;  we  are,  in  the 
sphere  in  which  God  has  placed  us,  to  let  our  light  shine  before 
men  :  it  is  God's  part  to  fix  the  sphere ;  it  is  our  part  to  do  the 
duty  that  devolves  upon  us.  We  are  not  responsible  for  the  po- 
sition in  which  God  has  placed  us ;  but  we  are  responsible  for 
the  faithfulness  with  which  we  act  in  that  place. 

Having  thus  noticed  the  locality  of  this  Church,  our  Lord  pro- 
nounces a  beautiful  eulogium  upon  it :  "  Thou  boldest  fast  my 
name,  and  hast  not  denied  my  faith."  What  is  Christ's  name  ? 
It  is  defined  by  Him  who  testifies  of  Christ,  the  Spirit  of  God : 
"  This  is  the  name  whereby  he  shall  be  called,  The  Lord  our 
Righteousness;"  and  again,  "his  name  shall  be  Immanuel,  God 
with  us;"  "God  manifest  in  the  flesh."  Let  me  look  at  these 
two  syllables  of  Christ's  name ;  <^is  name,  thus  composed,  the 
faithful  martyr  holds  fast. 

First  of  all,  his  name  is,  "The  Lord  our  Righteousness." 
Here  that  glorious  doctrine,  which  is  the  root  of  all  our  Chris- 
tianity, is  involved.  Justification  by  faith  is  not  a  doctrine  that 
was  discovered  at  the  Reformation,  but  it  was  a  truth  that  had 
existed  for  fifteen  centuries,  though  obscured  and  darkened  by 
man.  The  Reformation  was  not  the  discovery  of  a  new  star  in  a 
new  orbit,  but  simply  the  scattering  of  the  clouds  that  concealed 
an  ancient  star,  whose  rays  had  been  intercepted  overhead.  The 
doctrine,  then,  involved  in  this  name,  "  The  Lord  our  Righteous- 
ness," is  that  great  doctrine,  justification  by  faith.  What  a  glo- 
rious truth  is  it !  Christ  was  made  our  sin,  that  we  might  be 
made  his  righteousness :  he  took  our  place,  our  guilt,  our  con- 
demnation ;  we  are  elevated  into  his  place,  his  merits,  his  perfec- 
tion :  iniquity  was  laid  upon  Christ  which  was  not  his  own ; 
righteousness  is  laid  upon  us  which  is  not  ours.  Christ  was  con- 
demned for  another  man's  sin ;  we  shall  be  justified  by  another 
Man's  righteousness.  Our  death-deserving  sin  was  upon  Christ 
as  a  load  that  crushed  him  to  the  tomb ;  his  life-deserving  right- 


THE  FAITHFUL  MARTYR.  286 

eousness  shall  be  laid  upon  us,  as  an  eagle's  wing  that  shall  lift 
us  to  glory.  Grod  saw  iniquity  in  Christ  where  the  world  saw 
none ;  God  will  see  perfect  righteousness  in  us,  where  the  world 
can  see  none.  It  was  just  in  God  to  let  forth  the  expressions  of 
his  wrath  upon  that  innocent  Lamb,  because  he  wore  our  tainted 
fleece ;  and  it  will  be  but  faithful  and  just  in  God  to  pour  down 
the  expressions  of  his  love  upon  us,  because  we  wear  his  spotless 
righteousness.  When  Christ  died,  there  was  nothing  in  him 
worthy  of  death ;  when  we  shall  be  accepted  at  the  judgment- 
seat,  there  will  be  nothing  in  us  worthy  of  life.  He  reached 
death  through  another's  sinsj  we  shall  enter  into  heaven  by 
another,  even  Christ's,  righteousness.  Hold  fast  this  name ;  this 
is  the  destruction  and  the  death-blow  of  all  Puseyism  and  Popery 
together.  He  that  grasps  it  firmly,  and  sees  it  clearly,  will  never 
be  daunted  by  the  partial  apostasy  of  the  one,  nor  be  plunged 
into  the  terrible  corruption  of  the  other. 

The  other  part  of  Christ's  name,  which  his  Church  holds  fast, 
is  "  Immanuel,  God  with  us ;"  "  God  manifest  in  the  flesh." 
Here  is  another  part  of  Christ's  name  which  we  are  called  upon 
to  hold  fast.  This  I  have  ever  wished  to  impress  upon  you, — 
that  however  it  may  suit  philosophers,  and  men  who  pronounce 
themselves  wise,  to  speak  of  God  out  of  Christ  and  independent 
of  the  Gospel,  yet  their  God  is,  when  we  come  to  examine  their 
definition  of  him,  a  mass  of  inconsistency  and  contradiction.  Let 
me  look  at  God  as  he  is  revealed  in  nature.  We  can  see  from 
nature  that  there  is  a  God ;  it  is  written  on  the  skies,  it  is  en- 
graven on  the  earth ;  you  cannot  sail  upon  the  ocean's  bosom,  or 
traverse  the  sandy  desert,  without  seeing  everywhere  the  foot- 
prints of  a  God  :  and  though  a  certain  fool  —  for  that  is  the  true 
epithet,  because  the  scriptural  one  —  talks  of  "  vestiges  of  crea- 
tion," in  which  he  could  not  see  vestiges  of  a  God ;  depend 
upon  it,  it  was  not  because  the  footprints  of  Deity  were  so 
faint,  but  because  his  vision  was  so  dim  :  there  is  certainly  a 
God  revealed  in  nature ;  but  there  is  nothing  in  nature  where- 
by we  can  discover  what  that  God  is  to  us.  For  instance,  I 
feel  that  I  am  a  sinner :  the  great  question  that  must  strike 
every  one  who  does  not  receive  the  Gospel  is.  How  will  God 
deal  with  me?     If  God  be  just,  will -he  punish  every  sinner  ? 


236  THE  CHURCH  OF  PERGAMOS. 

You  will  not  admit  that ;  for  then  the  whole  world  would  be 
consumed :  if,  then,  God  be  merciful,  will  he  pardon  every 
sin  and  save  every  sinner?  You  cannot  admit  that  —  it  would 
be  encouragement  in  crime.  Then  T  ask  you,  How  deep  will 
God's  justice  descend  in  punishing  ?  how  high  will  God's 
mercy  ascend  in  pardoning  ?  You  cannot  tell.  The  God  of  the 
sceptic,  that  is,  the  God  who  is  discovered  in  nature,  must  be 
unjust  in  order  to  be  merciful,  and  unmerciful  in  order  to  be 
just  —  a  mass  of  contradiction;  but  the  God  who  is  delineated 
in  the  pages  of  the  Gospel  —  who  shines  in  the  countenance  of 
Jesus,  has  a  Legislator's  sovereignty,  a  Father's  love,  a  Creator's 
power  —  all  combined  in  the  forgiveness  of  the  greatest  sin,  and 
in  the  acceptance  of  the  greatest  sinner.  Hold  fast,  then,  that 
blessed  name,  "Immanuel,  God  with  us;"  "God  manifest  in  the 
flesh."  In  nature,  God  is  above  us ;  we  cannot  reach  him  :  in 
the  Law,  God  is  against  us ;  we  dare  not  approach  him  :  in  the 
Gospel,  God  is  our  Father,  waiting  to  welcome  us  to  his  bosom, 
that  we  may  draw  near  to  him  in  Christ,  and  call  him  "  Abba, 
Father." 

Now  the  commendation  of  this  Church,  then,  is  that  she  held 
fast  this  name  :  and  in  this  beautiful  trait  developed  here,  there 
is  indicated  the  catholicity  of  that  Church.  She  did  not,  like 
the  Corinthian  Church,  of  which  Paul  speaks,  say,  "  I  am  of 
Paul,  and  I  of  ApoUos,  and  I  of  Cephas ;"  she  did  not  call  her- 
self the  Pergamosite,  or  the  Antipasite,  from  the  most  eminent 
saint  and  martyr  in  her  history;  but  she  held  fast  that  name 
which  was  pronounced  in  scorn  in  Antioch,  but  which  shall  sound 
as  the  key-note  of  the  song  of  the  everlasting  jubilee — that  name 
which  was  first — which  shall  be  last — which  is  above  every  name, 
to  which  nations  shall  bow  and  kings  shall  confess  —  that  name 
which  all  shall  bless,  and  in  which  all  shall  be  blessed.  "We 
rejoice  that  that  blessed  name  grows  in  brightness  and  promi- 
nence every  day.  The  dim  shadows  of  twilight  begin  to  depart 
in  proportion  as  the  bright  beams  of  the  ascending  sun  begin  to 
fall  upon  the  world. 

That  sun,  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  is  now  horizontal ;  he  has 
risen  only  a  little  way  above  the  horizon ;  the  consequence  is, 
that  all  Churches  cast  long  shadows,  and  those  shadows  reveal 


THE  FAITHFUL  MARTYR.  237 

their  imperfections,  clearly,  sharply,  and  distinctly;  but  when 
that  glorious  Sun  shall  rise  above  the  horizon  —  when  he  shall 
cease  to  be  horizontal,  and  become  vertical — when  he  shall  mount 
his  meridian  throne  —  then  all  will  be  light,  and  no  Church  will 
have  a  shadow;  then  all  minor  names  shall  be  lost  in  this  —  the 
stars  of  the  sky  shall  be  the  letters  that  disclose  it  —  the  stones 
of  the  earth  shall  be  engraven  with  it ;  it  shall  mingle  with  the 
voice  of  the  winds,  and  the  chime  of  the  sea-waves,  and  Christ 
shall  be  all  and  in  all,  and  Christ  and  Christian  the  only  names 
in  the  universe  of  God.  In  this  imperfect  dispensation  we  are 
prone  to  love  party  more  than  principle;  the  Church's  name, 
more  than  Christ's  name.  One  man  would  Judaize  the  world ; 
another  would  Anglicize  the  world  ;  another  would  Tractarianize 
the  world ;  another  would  Episcopalize  the  world  :  and  I  do  not 
think  that  we  are  exempt,  for  some  of  us  would  Presbyterianizc 
the  world  :  but  in  proportion  as  we  have  more  of  the  love  and 
power  of  Christ  in  our  hearts,  we  shall  desire  neither  to  Romanize, 
nor  to  Episcopalize,  nor  to  Judaize,  but  to  Christianize  it.  Let 
IIS,  my  dear  friends,  hold  fast  this  name ;  let  it  be  the  key-note 
in  our  songs;  let  it  be  the  most  musical  utterance  we  know;  let 
it  be  deepest  in  the  recesses  of  our  souls ;  let  it  be  not  only 
written  in  our  creed,  but  inscribed  upon  our  hearts  —  be  in  us, 
and  to  us,  and  through  us  all.  Now  what  is  the  secret  of  the 
rise  of  this  name's  universal  supremacy  ?  All  plans  have  been 
tried  to  produce  unity ;  a  very  old  and  a  very  favourite  plan  was 
to  persecute ;  and  when  one  man  did  not  agree  with  another,  to 
kill  him,  as  if  murdering  the  man  would  mend  his  conscience,  or 
save  his  soul.  Another  plan  was  to  try  ignorance,  supposing  that 
when  the  matter  of  division  is  left  unknown  all  opinions  will  be 
alike,  and  there  will  be  no  question  or  dispute  where  there  is  noj 
knowledge  of  the  subject  of  the  question.  Another  plan  has 
been  tried  in  London,  and  one  in  which  I  rejoiced  to  take  a  share, 
though  it  has  also  failed,  because  the  time  is  not  yet  come, 
namely,  bringing  together  true  Christians  of  all  sects  in  that 
beautiful,  but  so  far  unsuccessful  experiment,  called  the  Evange- 
lical Alliance,  and  hoping  that  as  we  knew  each  other  better,  we 
should  love  each  other  more :  I  believe  that  the  result  has  shown 
that  union  is  just  as  far  off  as  ever;  and  that  no  mechanical  ar- 


238  THE  CHURCH  OF  PERGAMOS. 

rangements,  no  diplomatic  arrangements,  no  protocols,  no  com- 
mittee-room management,  no  platform  speeches,  will  make  unity ; 
there  is  but  one  cure  for  divisions,  there  is  but  one  secret  of 
unity  —  Christ's  love  in  a  man's  heart ;  and  then  when  all  love 
Christ  with  all  their  heart,  they  will  love  each  other  without  in- 
terruption, suspension,  and  decay. 

Having  spoken  thus  much  on  "  holding  fast  Christ's  name," 
let  me  notice  the  next  point  mentioned  in  the  eulogy  pronounced 
on  this  Church,  "thou  hast  not  denied  my  faith."  In  the  New 
Testament,  a  negative  of  this  kind  is  meant  to  be  the  strongest 
affirmative;  and  to  say,  "thou  hast  not  denied  my  faith,"  is 
equivalent  to  saying,  "  thou  hast  not  been  ashamed  of  me;  thou 
hast  boldly  and  unflinchingly  maintained  my  cause;  thou  hast 
not  beeii  ashamed  to  avow  who  you  are,  and  whom  you  serve." 
It  is  equivalent  to  what  the  Apostle  says,  "  I  am  not  ashamed  of 
the  Gospel  of  Christ."  Now  let  me  ask,  whether  there  is  any- 
thing in  Christianity  to  lead  us  to  deny  it  ?  Is  there  anything 
in  the  Gospel  of  which  any  one  should  be  ashamed  ?  Shall  I 
look  at  its  Author?  "  the  Lord  of  glory;"  "  God  manifest  in  the 
flesh?"  an  aureole  of  glory  around  his  cradle;  a  halo  circum- 
scribing his  cross ;  his  meanest  act  (if  any  can  be  called  mean 
where  all  was  magnificent)  indicating  the  sympathies  of  man,  but 
also  the  power  of  God.  A  star  guided  his  worshippers  to  his 
birthplace  ;  kings  came  to  minister  to  him ;  angels  were  his  body- 
guard ;  the  winds  his  messengers ;  his  followers,  the  diseased  he 
had  healed ;  they  that  praised  him,  the  dumb  whose  lips  he  had 
opened,  and  made  eloquent  with  gratitude  and  love  to  God.  Is 
there  anything,  then,  of  which  to  be  ashamed  in  him  who  is  the 
Author  of  Christianity  ?  Is  there  anything,  I  ask  in  the  next 
place,  in  the  foundation  of  the  Gospel  to  lead  us  to  be  ashamed 
of  it?  Prophets  predicted  it,  poets  sung  its  advent;  types,  cere- 
monies, and  forms  foreshadowed  it;  sickness,  and  sorrow,  and 
death  fled  at  its  approach ;  and  there  is  evidence  the  most  over- 
whelming that  holy  men  of  old  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  the  evidence,  I  have  told  you,  accumulates  every 
day,  till  the  Baptist's  cry,  pronounced  alone  upon  the  banks  of 
Jordan,  shall  be  heard  from  a  nation's  lips,  "  Behold  the  Lamb 
of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of'  the  world !"     Is  there  any- 


THE  FAITHFUL  MARTYR.  239 

thing,  in  the  third  place,  to  lead  us  to  be  ashamed  of  Christ,  if 
we  look  at  the  means  by  which  it  was  promoted  ?  Mahometanism 
was  promoted  by  force ;  the  Koran  or  the  scymetar  was  the  dread 
alternative ;  I  should  be  ashamed  of  a  religion  promoted  by  such 
means  as  these.  Popery  has  been  propagated  by  lying  wonders, 
by  fraud,  by  auto-da-fes,  inquisitions,  and  anathemas.  I  should 
be  no  less  ashamed  of  a  religion  promoted  by  these  means.  But 
the  Gospel  speaks  thus :  If  the  sword  is  to  be  unsheathed,  it 
must  be  by  the  foes,  not  by  the  friends  of  Christ ;  if  the  fagot  is 
to  be  gathei'ed,  it  must  be  kindled  by  another  hand  than  that  of 
a  Christian.  "  The  weapons  of  our  warfare  are  not  carnal ;"  and 
therefore,  says  the  Apostle,  they  are  "mighty."  Christianity 
gathers  its  laurels  from  the  glories  of  Jesus,  from  the  sorrows  it 
heals,  from  the  temporal  and  eternal  blessings  which  it  showers 
upon  mankind ;  and  proves  itself  to  come  from  the  God  of  all 
light,  by  its  shining  as  the  light  of  morn,  alike  through  the  poor 
man's  casement  and  the  noble's  oriel  window. 

"  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel :"  we  have  no  reason  to  deny 
it,  but  every  reason  to  glory  and  to  rejoice  in  it.  If  we  look 
again  at  the  effects  of  the  Gospel,  what  do  I  see  but  everything 
to  lead  me  not  to  deny  it — not  to  be  ashamed  of  it  ?  It  has 
everywhere  made  the  wilderness  rejoice ;  it  has  made  the  desert 
to  blossom  as  the  rose ;  it  has  removed  all  that  poisons  society, 
and  implanted  all  that  sweetens  it ;  it  has  made  the  churl  liberal ; 
it  has  transformed  all  it  has  touched  into  its  own  beautiful  like- 
ness ;  it  has  placed  the  hopes  of  glory  within  the  reach  of  all ;  it 
has  turned  sinners  into  saints,  and  the  bondsmen  of  Satan  into 
the  sons  of  God.  "  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel :"  I  have 
no  reason  to  deny  it,  but  every  reason  to  glory  and  to  rejoice  in 
it.  Nor  have  we  any  reason  to  deny  this  Gospel  if  we  look  at 
the  success  with  which  it  has  been  crowned,-  and  with  which  it  is 
more  and  more  followed  every  day.  I  see  indeed  the  true  Church 
f  become  more  intense,  distinct,  defined ;  the  world  become  more 
distinct  and  defined  also.  As  I  have  told  you  before,  the  time 
comes  when  all  "shams"  will  be  broken  up,  and  all  things  will 
find  their  polarity :  everything  is  gradually  becoming  more  earnest, 
real,  intense;  and  soon,  very  soon — sooner  than  you  dream — we 
shall  have  real  Papists,  real  infidels;  and,  blessed  be  God,  real 


240  THE  CHURCH  OF  PERGAMOS. 

Christians  also  :  and  then,  when  the  sifting  time  comes,  the  chaff 
will  take  its  flight,  the  living  seed  alone  will  remain. 

My  dear  friends,  each  man  right  soon  will  take  his  place.  All 
things  are  drawing  nearer  and  nearer  to  their  respective  centres; 
the  world  is  becoming  more  worldly ;  the  Church  is  becoming 
more  Christian,  and  therefore  more  distinct  from  the  world,  not 
by  mechanical  separation,  but  by  moral  superiority;  not  by 
leaving  this  section  and  joining  that,  but  by  being  more  detached 
from  sin,  and  more  alive  to  God;  and  that  blessed  day  draws 
nearer  and  near^  when  Christianity  shall  reach  her  culminating 
glory,  and  under  its  bright  and  blessed  influence  war  shall  cease, 
disease  shall  depart,  death  shall  be  destroyed,  and  all  nations  who 
now  seize  upon  each  other,  and  are  exasperated  against  each 
other,  and  drawn  into  a  state  of  unnatural  and  horrible  antago- 
nism, shall  then  become  one  lovely  and  beautiful  sisterhood,  and 
all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  one  holy,  happy  family,  singing  a 
new  song,  ever  new,  because  never  exhausted,  "  Hallelujah,  for 
the  Lord  Cod  Omnipotent  reigneth  !" 

I  have  said,  all  are  taking  their  places ;  let  me  ask  you,  have 
you  taken  yours  ?  Let  every  man  ask  himself.  What  am  I  ? 
what  is  my  place  ?  My  dear  friends,  there  are  but  two  consistent 
men — the  man  who  rejects  the  Bible,  and  deliberately  treats  it  as 
an  imposture ;  and  the  man  who  takes  it  to  his  heart,  and  loves 
it,  and  prizes  it  as  the  very  word  of  God.  There  is  no  spot  on 
which  you  will  stand  long  between  evangelical  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity, and  downright  cold,  freezing  indifierence.  There  is  no 
point  between.  On  which  side  do  you  stand  ?  Is  it  a  reasonable 
thing  to  settle  every  question,  and  leave  this  question  unsettled, 
What  shall  be  the  state  of  my  soul  with  God  ?  There  is  no  man 
in  this  assembly  who  can  insure  his  life  for  to-morrow ;  there  is 
no  man  in  this  assembly,  let  him  have  a  heart  that  beats  without 
a  wavering  pulse,  who  is  sure  to  stand  within  these  walls  another 
Sabbath.  Then,  my  dear  friends,  if  it  be  true  that,  when  this 
heart  shall  give  its  last  beat,  and  these  eyes  shall  become  fixed, 
the  soul,  capable  of  agony,  and  susceptible  of  joy,  shall  only 
unfurl  its  long-folded  wings,  and  soar  to  the  judgment-seat,  gazing 
into  that  eternity  which  is  to  be  a  blank,  which  I  cannot  describe, 
or  a  blessing,  of  which  language  can  convey  no  idea,  —  is  it  rea- 


/ 

THE  FAITHFUL  MARTYR.  241 

sonable,  is  it  consistent  with  common-sense,  that  we  should  leave 
such  a  question  for  one  single  hour  unsettled  and  undetermined  ? 
.1  fear  that,  when  one  makes  such  an  appeal  to  a  congregation, 
they  treat  it  as  men  treat  a  heavy  burden ;  when  a  great  many 
shoulders  bear  up  a  load,  each  one  feels  it  very  light ;  and  I  fear, 
when  I  ask  you  so  solemn  a  question,  it  is,  as  it  were,  spread 
over  so  many  hearts,  that  each  one  feels  very  little  of  it  j  but  just 
suppose  that  you  and  I  were  alone,  —  nay,  rather,  that  God  and 
you  were  alone,  the  only  beings  in  the  whole  universe,  and  in 
that  clearest  light,  and  in  that  secret,  solemn  sequestration,  ask 
yourself,  Is  my  soul  safe  ?  am  I  still  a  sinner  by  nature,  or  am  I 
a  saint  by  grace  ?  All  else  will  little  interest  you  in  comparison 
with  this;  all  disputes  will  dwindle  into  insignificance  beside 
this ;  it  will  make  great  things  appear  of  little  worth,  and  great 
men  look  very  small  indeed. 

Let  me  ask,  then,  are  you  faithful  even  where  Satan's  scat  is  ? 
Do  not  attempt  excuses.  Do  not  say,  I  am  so  involved  in  busi- 
ness,— I  am  so  tired, — so  troubled, — so  vexed, — there  is  so  much 
to  irritate  and  annoy  me, —  that  surely  God  will  make  allowance 
for  me.  Do  not  say,  I  am  placed  in  such  a  high  position, — I  am 
a  prime  minister,  or  a  member  of  Parliament,  or  I  am  a  great 
general,  and  what  will  such  a  great  man  say  if  I  were  to  be  a 
Christian  ?  or  what  would  such  another  great  man  say  if  I  were 
to  become  a  saint  ?  or  what  would  such  another  one  say  if  I  were 
to  preside  at  a  Bible  Society  or  a  Ragged  School  ?  My  dear 
friends,  it  is  a  light  thing  to  be  judged  of  man;  but  He  that 
judgeth  us  is  God.  Do  not  think  that  your  circumstances,  while 
they  provoke  Christ's  sympathy,  will  excuse  your  unfaithfulness. 
For  does  not  Christ  himself  say,  "  How  hardly  shall  they  that  have 
riches  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God !"  He  does  not  say. 
Because  you  have  riches  I  will  deal  more  tenderly  with  you ;  but 
he  tells  you  that  riches  are  a  snare  to  their  possessor,  and  there- 
fore you  must  be  on  the  watch  against  delusion  and  misconcep- 
tion. There  was  Antipas,  "a  faithful  martyr,  where  Satan's  seat 
was."  Antipas  was  in  trying  circumstances ;  but  he  preferred  to 
die  rather  than  to  compromise  the  truth,  —  to  meot  death  in  its 
most  formidable  shape  rather  than  to  conceal  his  love  to  his 
Saviour,  to  be  ashamed  of  the  sure  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God. 

21 


242  THE  CHUBCU  OF  PERGAMOS. 

Suffer  me,  in  conclusion,  to  say,  that  wherever  God's  truth  is 
faithfully  proclaimed,  and  fully  exhibited  in  the  life,  there  oppo- 
sition will  be  provoked.  You  may  judge  of  the  purity  of  your 
creed,  and  of  the  faithfulness  with  which  that  creed  is  embodied 
in  your  life,  by  the  opposition  that  you  meet  with.  I  do  not  say 
that  in  these  days  we  shall  be  burned  at  the  stake ;  but  this  I  do 
say,  that  wherever  you  are  faithful,  uncompromising,  consistent, 
you  may  expect  opposition  :  there  are  martyrs  in  drawing-rooms, 
martyrs  in  palaces,  martyrs  in  garrets;  martyrs  for  whom  the 
trumpet  of  fame  does  not  sound,  and  whom  the  records  of  mar- 
tyrology  do  not  mention,  but  who  suffer  and  sacrifice,  and  live 
and  die  for  Christ's  sake.  My  dear  friends,  it  is  easy  to  die  like 
a  martyr ;  the  great  thing  is  to  live  like  a  martyr.  To  die  a  reli- 
gious death  is  not  so  difficult  a  thing  as  to  live  a  religious  life  : 
this  is  the  duty  that  devolves  upon  you ;  and  by  God's  grace  I 
hope  that  we  shall  be  able  to  live  such  a  life ;  and  then,  whether 
we  live  or  die,  it  will  be  well  with  \is. 


LECTURE  XV. 

UNFAITHFULNESS. 

"  But  I  have  a  few  things  against  thee,  because  thou  hast  there  them  that 
hold  the  doctrine  of  Balaam,  who  taught  Balac  to  cast  a  stumblingblock  before 
the  children  of  Israel,  to  eat  things  sacrificed  unto  idols,  and  to  commit  forni- 
cation. So  hast  thou  also  them  which  hold  the  doctrine  of  the  Nicolaitanes, 
which  thing  I  hate." — Rev.  ii.  14,  15. 

Last  Lord's-day  evening,  I  addressed  you  from  the  previous 
verse.  I  explained  the  meaning  of  the  excellency  here  predicated 
of  the  Church  of  Pergamos,  that  "  she  held  fast  Christ's  name." 
I  also  explained  the  peculiar  circumstances  under  which  she  held 
it  fast,  in  a  place  where  Satan's  supremacy  was  almost  undisputed, 
and  under  circumstances  when  martyrdom  was  the  penalty  for 
faithfulness  to  God.  I  may  here  briefly  allude  to  the  individual 
who  is  here  canonized  by  God,  namely,  Antipas,  pronounced 
"my  faithful  martyr,"  slain  among  you  for  his  testimony  to  the 
truth.  We  know  nothing  of  Antipas  beyond  what  is  stated  here. 
But  this  is  not  a  little  remarkable,  that  the  Church  of  Rome, 
which  has  canonized  such  an  idolator  as  Bonaventura,  so  fierce  a 
persecutor  as  Hildebrand,  so  great  a  fanatic  as  Ignatius,  has  never 
dreamed  of  recording  in  her  calendar  the  name  of  one  whom 
God  has  pronounced  to  be  his  own  faithful  martyr.  It  does  seem 
strange  that  a  body  which  has  literally  ransacked  Pandemonium 
for  saints  wherewith  to  people  Paradise,  should  have  omitted  to 
recognise  one  who' has  received  no  eulogia  from  Popes,  but  who 
has  the  commendation  of  Him  "  to  whom  all  hearts  are  open, 
and  from  whom  no  secrets  are  hid."  We  know  this,  however, 
respecting  Antipas,  that  the  surrender  of  the  truth,  or  the  sacri- 
fice of  life,  were  the  terrible  alternatives  that  were  placed  before 
him.  It  appears  that  he  chose  to  die  a  martyr,  rather  than  to 
live  a  traitor.  He  felt  the  truth  to  be  so  precious,  that  he  sacri- 
st 


244  THE  CHURCH  OF  PERGAMOS. 

ficed  his  life  in  order  to  retain  it.  Do  you  think  that  Antipas 
now  repents  of  his  choice  ?  He  was  pronounced  a  bigot  by  some 
of  bis  contemporaries,  I  doubt  not;  he  was  denounced  by  others 
as  adhering  to  obsolete  prejudices ;  he  was  advised  by  others  to 
give  way  a  little,  and  be  moderate  in  his  attachment  to  his  creed  : 
he  now  finds  that  what  they  called  concession  would  have  been 
compromise ;  that  what  they  recommended  as  prudence,  in  order 
to  save  his  life,  would  have  been  dishonour  to  his  Lord,  and 
treachery  to  the  cause  which  was  committed  to  him.  Is  it,  I 
wondei*,  that  there  are  fewer  martyrs  because  the  world  has  be- 
come better,  or  is  it  because  the  Church  has  grown  worse  ?  It  is 
a  very  solemn  question  :  perhaps  we  are  indebted  to  the  privileges 
we  enjoy  as  Britons  for  the  immunities  which  we  have  as  Chris- 
tians; but  it  is  a  great  law,  that  the  world  is  ever  at  enmity  to 
Christ's  Church ;  that  enmity  has  not  ceased, — it  varies  its  form, 
it  develops  itself  according  to  the  circumstancfes  of  the  age  in 
which  the  Church  exists.  Sometimes  it  shows  itself  in  nourish- 
ing the  wild  beasts  to  devour  the  faithful,  or  in  supplying  the 
fagots  with  which  to  burn  them ;  at  other  times  it  shows  itself  in 
the  contemptuous  sneer,  or  the  satirical  remark,  or  the  paltry 
gibe,  or  the  contemptible  joke.  It  is  still  the  epitome  of  the 
world's  history,  "  Cain  slew  his  brother  Abel."  It  is  no  less  the 
characteristic  of  the  Church's  origin  and  history,  Christ  died  for 
his  brother  man.  The  manner  varies,  but  the  opposition  of  the 
world  to  Christianity  remains  the  same.  Nevertheless,  wherever 
there  has  been  martyrdom,  it  is  not  truth  that  has  suffered,  but 
the  persecutors  of  the  truth.  The  martyrs  ever  have  been  the 
seedsmen  of  Christianity ;  they  have  scattered  the  living  and  in- 
corruptible seed  broadcast  over  many  an  acre  of  the  earth,  and  it 
has  grown  up  into  a  glorious  harv^est,  which  the  Lord  of  the 
harvest  has  carried  home  into  his  own  garners.  This  lesson  we 
learn  from  the  past,  that  all  the  inquisitors  df  Rome,  and  all  the 
persecutors  of  heathendom,  have  failed  to  burn  out  Christianity; 
while  all  the  architects  of  every  age  have  failed  successfully  to 
build  up  a  lie.  Let  us  have  confidence  in  truth ;  it  will  triumph ; 
let  us  look  down  with  calm  indifference  on  the  persecutions  of  the 
world ;  we  know  that  they  will  fail. 

I  now  turn  to  the  censure  pronounced  upon  this  Church.    We 


UNFAITHFULNESS.  245 

have  spoken  of  the  encomium,  "  holding  fast  Christ's  name  •'* 
and  also,  "not  denying  the  faith;"  and  also,  suffering  death 
rather  than  surrender  the  truth.  Let  me  notice  the  censure 
pronounced  upon  it,  "  But  I  have  a  few  things  against  thee  j"  a 
charge  stronger  than  that  used  in  a  previous  epistle,  "I  have 
somewhat  against  thee;"  and  the  first  thing  against  her  is, 
"  Thou  hast  there  them  that  hold  the  doctrine  of  Balaam,  who 
taught  Balak  to  cast  a  stumbling-block  before  the  children  of 
Israel."  We  do  not  understand  by  this  that  the  Church,  as  a 
whole,  had  embraced  the  doctrine  of  Balaam,  but  that  she  suf- 
fered in  the  midst  of  her  the  presence  of  parties  who  held  and 
inculcated  the  doctrine  of  Balaam.  Who  Balaam  was,  and  what 
was  the  character  of  the  doctrine  which  he  taught,  and  which 
his  followers  inculcated  on  thi^  occasion,  we  find  by  referring  to 
his  history,  as  given  in  Numbers  xxi.  xxii.  and  xxiii.,  which  you 
may  read  at  your  leisure.  It  appears  that  he  was  brought  from 
Midian  by  Balak,  king  of  Moab;  in  fact,  he  himself  states, 
"  Balak  brought  me  from  Aram,  out  of  the  mountains  of  the 
east."  He  is  called  expressly  a  prophet ;  and  it  does  seem,  from 
many  of  the  expressions  used  concerning  him,  that  he  was  a  true 
prophet,  that  he  knew  the  truth,  and  that  he  uttered  predictions 
which  were  eventually  performed  as  they  were  meant  to  be  :  he 
says  himself,  "  As  the  Lord  shall  speak  to  me ;"  he  says  again, 
<'  I  cannot  go  beyond  the  word  of  the  Lord ;"  he  goes,  again, 
"  to  consult  the  Lord"  (Jehovah) ;  language  which  indicates  de- 
ference to  the  true  God ;  and  some  of  the  predictions  which  he 
uttered  having  been  since  fulfilled,  indicate  prophetic  inspiration 
from  the  Fountain  of  inspiration.  But,  you  ask,  is  not  this 
strange,  that  one  so  wicked  should  have  been  inspired  by  God  ? 
It  may  be  strange ;  but  the  question  is,  Is  it  true  ?  Did  not  God 
show  unto  Pharaoh  things  that  He  would  do  ?  Will  not  many 
stand  at  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ  and  be  able  to  say,  "  Lord, 
have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy  name,  and  in  thy  name  have  done 
many  marvellous  works  ?"  and  yet  will  not  the  Lord  say  to  many 
such,  "Depart  from  me,  ye  that  work  iniquity;  for  I  never  knew 
you?"  Balaam  may  have  been  the  unconscious  instrument 
through  which  God  predicted  truths ;  he  may  have  had  no  more 
merit  in  being  the  channel  of  prophecy  than  a  great  genius  haa 

21* 


246  THE  CHURCH  OP  PERGAMOS. 

in  being  the  composer  of  illustrious  poems  or  tho  painter  of  re- 
markable pictures.  Prophecy  is  a  gift,  it  is  not  a  grace ;  and 
God  may,  for  great  purposes,  use  a  bad  man  to  be  the  vehicle  of 
truth,  just  as  he  may,  for  equally  great  purposes,  permit  a  bad 
man  to  be  distinguished  for  his  genius,  his  talent,  his  taste,  or 
his  eloquence. 

"We  find  in  reading  the  history  of  this  man  that  Balak,  the 
king  of  Moab,  and  the  king  of  Midian,  saw  the  advancing  victo- 
ries of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  they  began  to  fear  that  they 
also  should  be  cut  down  and  destroyed  by  the  irresistible  power 
of  that  people,  and  they  resolved  to  gain  the  victory  at  the  least 
expense.  Balak,  the  king  of  Moab,  wished  to  have  a  victory 
over  the  children  of  Israel  without  the  waste  of  money,  or  the 
maintenance  of  an  army,  or  the  loss  of  subjects  in  the  achieve- 
ment of  it;  and  therefore  he  sent  for  this  prophet,  whose  love 
for  gold  was  probably  as  proverbial  as  his  prophetic  utterance  of 
truth,  and  desired  him  to  pronounce  a  curse  which  should  fall 
like  a  blight  upon  the  armies  of  Israel,  so  that,  like  the  hosts  of 
Sennacherib,  they  might  be  smitten  down  and  paralysed  in  a  day. 
"Come,"  said  the  king  of  Moab,  "come,  curse  me  this  people." 
Would  you  not  think  it  would  have  been  more  rational  for  the 
king  of  Moab  to  have  said,  "Come  and  bless  me,  and  then  I 
shall  not  need  to  fear  the  children  of  Israel  ?"  Would  it  not 
have  been  as  secure  to  have  sought  a  richer  blessing  for  Moab, 
as  to  have  imprecated  a  deadly  curse  upon  Israel  ?  This  is  rea- 
sonable ;  but  it  is  not  the  way  of  the  wicked.  A  wicked  man 
seeks  to  construct  the  fabric  of  his  joy  out  of  the  ruins  of  those 
that  are  around  him.  A  bad  man  never  feels  secure  so  long  as' 
there  is  one  near  him  as  strong  as  himself:  it  is  the  characteristic 
of  God's  people  that  they  seek  a  blessing  for  themselves  under 
the  overshadowing  pinions  of  which  they  may  have  peace :  it  is 
the  characteristic  of  the  enemies  of  God  that  they  imprecate  a 
curse  on  others  to  make  them  weaker,  not  a  blessing  to  make 
themselves  stronger.  Balak  was  emphatically  what  is  called  in 
Scripture  "a  hireling;"  he  was  ready  to  pronounce  a  curse  deep 
and  long  upon  a  people  who  had  never  injured  him,  provided 
only  he  was  paid  for  it :  and  when  he  was  asked  to  come  and 
curse,  he  rejoiced  to  do  it ;  not  in  order  that  that  curse  might 


UNFAITHFULNESS.  247 

be  followed  by  the  slaughter  of  the  children  of  Israel,  but  that 
H  might  be  followed  by  the  increase  of  riches  to  himself.  He 
cared  not  that  he  had  to  rush  against  the  sword  of  the  Almighty, 
to  brave  the  threats  of  heaven,  to  endure  the  stings  of  conscience, 
and  to  subdue  all  the  sjonpathies  of  humanity  which  teach  us  to 
sympathise  with  the  suffering  —  he  minded  not  all  these,  if  he 
only  obtained  the  bribe  which  had  been  offered  him.  How  true 
is  it  that  money  is  —  not,  as  it  is  rendered  in  our  translation, 
"  the  root  of  all  evil,"  but  the  root,  as  it  stands  in  the  original, 
of  all  the  evils  which  the  apostle  has  specified  !  how  true,  I  say, 
is  it,  that  the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  innumerable  evils ! 
The  secret  of  the  treachery  of  Judas  was  the  thirty  pieces  of 
silver ;  the  source  of  the  falsehood  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira  was 
money ;  the  strength  of  the  hypocrisy  of  the  Scribes  and  Phari- 
sees was  "devouring  widows'  houses" — the  love  of  money;  and 
the  Church  of  Rome  has  been  constructed  partly  from  the  love 
of  power,  but  mainly  from  the  love  of  money,  and  any  one  ac- 
quainted with  that  system  must  see  how  true  this  is.  The  poor 
Roman  Catholic  is  taxed  when  he  is  born ;  taxed  when  he  is  in 
his  cradle ;  taxed  when  he  is  baptized  ]  taxed  when  he  is  con- 
firmed; taxed  when  he  is  absolved;  taxed  when  he  is  on  his 
sick-bed;  taxed  on  his  death-bed;  taxed  in  his  coffin;  taxed  in 
purgatory; — taxed  from  beginning  to  end;  the  love  of  money  is 
the  root  of  these  innumerable  evils.  Balaam  was  a  prophet  ready 
to  curse,  provided  he  received  the  gold  that  was  promised  as  his 
reward.  He  made  the  attempt;  but,  lo,  we  read  in  the  Book  of 
Numbers,  that  when  he  tried  to  curse,  he  found  that  the  words 
which  he  meant  to  be  a  malison  were  transformed  in  the  utter- 
ance by  the  power  of  God  into  a  glorious  benison  :  Balak  hearing 
of  this,  cried  out  in  a  rage,  "  I  sent  for  thee  to  curse  this  people, 
and,  lo,  thou  hast  blessed  them  altogether  !"  He  then  sent 
messengers  to  offer  him  greater  rewards ;  but  the  reply  of  Balaam 
was,  "  Though  Balak  should  give  me  his  house  full  of  silver  and 
gold,  I  cannot  curse  where  God  has  pronounced  a  blessing."  Then 
Balak,  with  that  exquisite  diplomacy  by  which  the  children  of 
this  world  are  characterized,  besets  Balaam  at  another  side  of  his 
character :  he  had  tried  his  covetousness,  he  now  seeks  to  reach 
him  through  his  ambition,  and  says,  "  I  will  exalt  thee  to  great 


248  THE  CHURCH  OF  PERGAMOS. 

honour,  if  thou  wilt  only  curse  this  people ;  I  will  make  you  a 
prime  minister,  or  a  peer  of  the  realm ;  there  is  no  honour  short 
of  my  crown  which  I  will  not  bestow  upon  you,  if  you  will  only 
curse  me  these  Hebrews."  Stimulated  by  the  promises  thus 
made  to  him,  he  erected  seven  altars  upon  seven  different  hills, 
in  order  that,  standing  upon  each  in  succession,  he  might  fulmi- 
nate more  sure  and  tremendous  curses  upon  the  hosts  of  Israel ; 
he  went  from  mountain  to  mountain,  thinking  in  his  folly  that 
there  might  be  some  mountain-top  where  God  was  not  —  that 
there  might  be  some  side  of  Israel  not  encircled  by  the  ever- 
lasting arms ;  but  he  found  there  was  no  avenue  where  a  curse 
might  enter  amid  the  ranks  of  those  whose  confidence  was  the 
God  of  Israel.  He  found  all  his  efforts  fail,  all  his  curses  turned 
into  blessings  the  moment  that  he  pronounced  them.  But  the 
devices  of  the  wicked  are  endless ;  and  Balaam  having  failed  to 
curse  the  children  of  Israel,  hit  upon  a  scheme  that  perfectly  suc- 
ceeded. This  scheme  was  a  masterpiece :  it  is  alluded  to  in  chap, 
xxxi.  in  very  brief  but  very  expressive  words.  We  are  told  there 
that  "  Moses  said  unto  them.  Behold,  these  caused  the  children 
of  Israel,  through  the  counsel  of  Balaam,  to  commit  trespass 
against  the  Lord  in  the  matter  of  Peer,  and  there  was  a  plague 
among  the  congregation  of  the  Lord."  He  seduced  the  children 
of  Israel  by  presenting  to  them  the  beautiful  and  accomplished 
daughters  of  Moab ;  and  the  people  whom  he  could  not  weaken 
^y  his  curse  he  was  able  to  triumph  over  by  the  power  of  moral 
corruption.  His  every  curse  was  turned  into  a  blessing  on  a 
faithful  people,  but  his  seduction  to  sin  succeeded  to  the  heart's 
content  of  Balak  the  king  of  Moab.  So  it  is  that  the  safety  of 
the  people  is  in  the  people's  purity ;  our  countrymen  are  shielded 
from  every  curse  that  can  be  fulminated  from  the  seven  moun- 
tains of  Rome  if  they  continue  a  holy  people ;  but  the  moment 
that  sin  corrupts  the  hearts  of  a  nation,  that  moment  the  curse 
will  light  upon  their  prosperity ;  when  a  people  lose  their  piety 
they  lose  their  immunity:  unfaithfulness  to  God  forfeits  his 
blessing.  And  has  it  not  been  so  in  the  history  of  other  lands 
besides  the  land  of  Israel  ?  Antichrist,  personated  in  different 
forms,  from  Hildebrand  to  Pius  IX.,  has  tried  from  every  hill  of 
Borne  to  curse  the  land  in  which  we  live :  our  monarchs  have 


UNFAITHFULNESS.  249 

been  deposed;  their  subjects  have  been  released  from  their  alle- 
giance ;  its  whole  population  have  been  denounced  as  heretics ; 
but  every  curse  that  was  fulminated  from  the  Vatican  against  the 
land  that  we  love  was  transformed  by  the  God  whom  we  worship 
into  a  glorious  and  encompassing  blessing.  But  the  Pope  has 
tried  a  new  process,  and  during  the  last  twenty  years  it  has  been 
a  successful  one.  Antichrist  saw  that  he  could  not  curse  us,  but 
he  has  found  that  he  can  corrupt  us ;  and  so,  during  the  last  few 
years,  upwards  of  seventy  ministers  of  the  Church  of  England 
have  been  tainted  by  his  principles ;  nearly  one  hundred  of  the 
leading  gentry  and  aristocracy  have  followed  in  their  wake,  and 
not  a  few  remain  of  Home  but  not  yet  in  it,  though  ready  to  join 
its  communion  when  it  may  be  most  convenient  or  expedient  for 
them.  So  true  is  it  that  a  curse  that  is  not  merited  falls  scathe- 
less;—  that  corruption  which  is  not  watched  against  penetrates 
and  destroys. 

We  have  thus  seen,  from  the  history  of  Balaam,  that  his  doc- 
trine was  untrue,  and  his  practice  corrupt.  Let  us  now  see  where 
lay  the  blame  that  attached  to  the  Church  of  Pergamos.  "  I  have 
a  few  things  against  thee ;"  and  the  first  thing  mentioned  is  this  : 
"  Thou  hast  in  the  midst  of  thee  them  that  hold  the  doctrine  of 
Balaam,  who  taught  Balak,  king  of  Moab,  to  cast  a  stumbling- 
block  before  the  children  of  Israel."  In  other  words,  we  are 
taught  here  that  the  ministers  and  people  of  the  Church  of  Per- 
gamos ought  to  have  removed,  or  excommunicated,  those  who 
held  the  doctrine  and  followed  the  practices  of  Balaam.  We  know 
by  what  process  they  were  7wt  to  remove  them ;  while  it  is  matter 
of  dispute  among  Christians  by  what  specific  process  they  ought  to 
have  removed  them.  In  the  first  place,  they  were  not  to  remove 
the  followers  of  Balaam,  who  taught  the  principles  that  he  preached, 
by  persecution.  The  prison,  the  fagot,  the  inquisition,  are  not  the 
consecrated  weapons  of  the  Church  of  the  Lord.  "  The  weapons 
of  our  warfare,"  we  are  told,  "  are  not  carnal,  but  mighty  through 
God."  It  has  been  adduced,  in  one  of  the  most  conspicuous 
newspapers  of  the  day,  as  a  charge  against  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished champions  of  the  Reformation,  that  he  advocated  the 
practice  of  persecution.  Now,  is  it  true  that  any  one  section  of 
the  great  leaders  of  the  Protestant  Church  have  tried  to  put  down 


250  THE  CHURCH  OF  PERGAMOS. 

obvious  heresy  by  the  exercise  of  weapons  that  are  interdicted  and 
forbidden  in  the  word  of  God  ?  Is  it  true,  or  is  it  not,  that  Calvin 
was  guilty  of  persecution  ?  Let  us  not  conceal  what  is  true,  let  us 
not  charge  against  him  what  is  false.  In  the  charge  that  has  been 
made  in  the  quarter  to  which  I  have  alluded,  there  is  much  that 
is  positively  false,  much  that  is  grotesque ',  and  much  also  that 
is  too  correct.  Let  us  see,  then,  how  far  a  great  founder  of  the 
Protestant  Church  used  persecution  toward  Servetus  in  order  to 
drive  his  system  out  of  that  Church;  and  how  far  he  shrank 
from  and  abhorred  it.  In  the  statement  in  the  public  paper  to 
which  I  have  referred,  in  which  Calvin  is  charged  with  burning 
Servetus,  it  is  conveniently  concealed  that  all  the  Fathers,  with- 
out exception,  taught  and  encouraged  the  practice  of  burning 
heretics,  in  order  to  purify  the  Church  and  save  their  souls.  It 
is  also  conveniently  concealed,  that  the  Church  of  Rome  had 
sanctioned  persecution  for  a  thousand  years,  and  that  Calvin  had 
learned  to  persecute  as  a  duty,  from  the  school  in  which  he  had 
been  brought  up  and  had  learned  the  first  elements  of  Chris- 
tianity. And  in  the  third  place,  it  is  also  quietly  concealed  that 
Servetus,  who  was  not  only  a  Pantheist,  but  also  an  open  blas- 
phemer, was  apprehended  as  a  heretic,  and  thrown  into  prison  by 
the  Church  of  Rome,  at  Vienne,  and  hid  escaped  from  his  dun- 
geon and  from  burning  by  stealth ;  so  that  Calvin,  if  he  was  at 
all  guilty,  only  did  what  the  Church  of  Rome  regretted  that  she 
had  not  the  power  to  do  several  months  before.  Now,  all  these 
facts,  which  are  modifying  elements,  are  unfairly  concealed.  But 
what  portion  of  the  alleged  guilt  does  actually  belong  to  Calvin  ? 
He  says,  "  These  things  done  by  the  senate  were  done  by  my 
influence  and  advice."  "  Servetus,  by  my  influence  and  advice, 
was  committed  to  the  prison  by  the  civil  power."  '*  Having 
received  the  freedom  of  the  city  of  Geneva,"  continues  Calvin, 
"  I  was  bound  to  impeach  him  as  guilty  of  this  crime ;  but  from 
the  time  that  the  articles  were  produced  against  him  I  never 
uttered  a  syllable  concerning  his  punishment."  Nay,  it  is  actu- 
ally the  fact,  that  Calvin  deprecated  the  burning  of  Servetus. 
Calvin  believed,  I  regret  to  say,  what  every  reformer  then 
believed,  that  to  imprison,  and  punish  by  death,  those  who  were 
heretics,  was  a  Christian  principle.     Cranmer,  for  instance,  sane- 


UNFAITHFULNESS.  251 

tioned  the  burning  of  two  Anabaptists ;  John  Knox,  as  is  known 
to  every  one,  held  the  doctrine  that  idolaters  (and  he  ranks 
Komish  priests  as  idolaters)  ought  to  be  put  to  death  j  and,  no 
doubt,  Calvin  also  was  tainted  by  the  same  doctrine.  But  the 
school  in  which  they  learned  to  persecute  was  the  Church  which 
now  denounces  the  Reformers,  as  if  they  were  the  originators  of 
persecution.  In  the  next  place,  let  me  ask,  is  it  fair  to  try  the 
sixteenth  century  by  the  light  of  the  nineteenth  ?  ^Yould  it  not 
be  more  kind  to  dwell  upon  the  glorious  deeds  and  ennobling 
graces  and  pure  evangelical  principles  of  the  pious  dead,  rather 
than  to  rake  up  their  sins,  their  shortcomings,  their  infirmities, 
and  glory  in  exposing  them  ?  And  lastly,  let  it  be  remembered, 
that  if  Calvin,  and  Cranmer,  and  Knox  sanctioned  persecution 
then,  their  descendants  of  every  section  of  the  Protestant  Church 
now  repudiate  it;  while  the  Church  of  Rome,  in  which  they 
learned  persecution,  still  cleaves  to  its  ancient  persecuting  prin- 
ciples, and  is  prepared  to  gather  the  fagots,  and  to  bolt  the 
prison-doors,  and  to  celebrate  the  auto-da-f^s,  as  soon  as  oppor- 
tunity and  power  put  it  within  her  reach.  I  have  this  much  to 
say  in  defence  of  Calvin ;  I  have  nothing  to  say  in  mitigation  of 
the  crime  of  those  who  hold  persecution  as  a  principle  still,  and 
are  prepared  evermore  to  practise  it.  I  fear  Calvin's  accusers 
hate  his  noble  theology,  and  therefore  denounce  its  author. 

Thus,  then,  we  believe  that,  to  remove  the  Balaamites,  and 
those  who  held  their  principles,  by  burning,  or  imprisoning,  or 
beheading  them,  would  have  been  unscriptural  and  sinful.  If 
the  fires  of  persecution  are  again  to  be  lighted,  we  repeat  it,  let 
them  be  lighted  by  the  foes,  not  by  the  friends,  of  the  Gospel. 
If  the  sword  of  the  persecutor  is  to  be  unsheathed,  let  the  hand 
of  an  enemy,  not  the  hand  of  a  Christian,  unsheath  it.  "  The 
weapons  of  our  warfare  are  not  carnal;"  and  because  they  are  not 
carnal,  they  are  "  mighty."  But  whilst  we  are  not  to  persecute 
those  who  hold  erroneous  sentiments,  it  is,  notwithstanding,  the 
duty  of  the  Church  not  to  retain  them  in  her  communion.  The 
sin  of  this  Church  consisted  in  not  protesting  against  them,  —  in 
not  ecclesiastically,  or  congregationally,  or  according  to  the  form 
of  polity  by  which  the  Church  was  characterized,  separating  from 
them,  or  separating  them  from  herself     But  here  lies  an  impor- 


252  THE  CHURGH  OF  PERGAMOS. 

tant  distinction  worthy  of  our  recollection  j  we  may  not  separate 
from  our  communion  those  who  differ  from  us  in  details,  while 
we  ought  to  keep  from  a  communion-table  those  who  differ  from 
us  in  vital  and  essential  truths.  We  have  this  very  beautifully 
brought  out  by  the  Apostle,  when  he  tells  us,  in  Komans  xiv. 
2,  3,  "  One  believeth  that  he  may  eat  all  things  :  another,  who  is 
weak,  eateth  herbs.  Let  not  him  that  eateth  despise  him  that 
eateth  not ;  and  let  not  him  which  eateth  not  judge  him  that 
eateth ;"  and  again,  in  verse  5,  "  One  man  esteemeth  one  day 
above  another ;  another  esteemeth  every  day  alike.  Let  every 
man  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind."  Where  there  is  a 
difference  in  ceremony,  or  in  details,  there  it  is  right  to  retain 
those  that  agree  with  us  in  essentials ;  but  when  the  difference  is 
in  vital  truth,  or  practical  morality,  then  it  is  duty  to  separate 
them  from  us,  or  for  us  to  separate  from  them.  Those,  therefore, 
who  are  true  Christians,  who  hold  the  great  essential  doctrines 
of  the  everlasting  Gospel,. justification  through  the  blood  of  Christ, 
and  sanctification  through  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  may  differ  from 
us  about  the  forms  of  worship,  —  they  may  differ  about  the  time 
and  ceremonies  of  baptism,  or  about  the  mode  of  administering 
the  Lord's  Supper.  In  such  details  let  every  man  be  fully  per- 
suaded in  his  own  mind;  but  where  the  difference  is,  whether 
Christ  be  God  or  not,  then  concession  would  be  compromise,  and 
countenance  of  the  error  would  be  unfaithfulness  to  Christ.  Let 
us  join  with  all  that  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  heartily  and 
truly ;  but  let  us  separate  from  them,  or  let  them  separate  from 
us,  who  deny  and  repudiate  the  great  truths,  without  which  the 
Gospel  is  a  collection  of  dreary  theories,  not  a  glorious  compen- 
dium of  light,  and  life,  and  truth. 

But  we  have  another  class  of  heretics  referred  to  in  this  epistle 
— the  Nicolaitanes  :  "  Thou  hast  also  them  which  hold  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Nicolaitanes,  which  thing  I  hate."  We  know  little 
about  this  sect;  the  Balaamites  seem  to  have  been  more  charac- 
terized by  practical  ungodliness :  the  word  used  in  verse  14  is 
generally  used  in  Scripture  to  denote  idolatry;  and  idolatry  was 
probably  the  characteristic  sin  of  the  sect  here  alluded  to,  as 
*'  they  who  held  the  doctrine  of  Balaam."  Wherever  there  is  an 
immoral  liver,  there  is  always  an  idol  worship ;  whenever  a  man 


UNFAITHFULNESS.  259 

Btiikes  out  a  new  directory  by  which  he  is  to  live,  he  is  sure  to 
strike  out  a  new  god  whom  he  is  to  worship.  Man's  heart  has 
much  to  do  with  man's  head.  What  he  wants  to  be  true,  has  a 
great  deal  to  do  with  what  he  concludes  to  be  true.  But  the  sin 
of  the  Nivjolaitanes  seems  to  have  lain  not  so  much  in  their  con- 
duct as  in  their  doctrine.  "Thou  hast  also  them  which  hold  the 
doctrine  of  the  Nicolaitanes,  which  thing  I  hate."  I  have  en- 
deavoured to  ascertain  who  the  Nicolaitanes  were ;  and  I  find 
they  belonged  to  the  class  called  Gnostics  —  a  name  which  is 
derived  from  the  Greek  word  ytmaxco,  which  means,  to  know ;  so 
called  because  these  parties  pretended  to  have  a  monopoly  of  all 
the  spiritual  knowledge  of  the  age  in  which  they  lived.  They 
believed,  among  other  peculiar  and  erroneous  notions,  that  matter 
was  essentially  evil ;  that  the  resurrection  of  the  body  was  a  thing 
that  never  could  be ;  that  our  Lord  was  never  actually  incarnate, 
but  that  he  took  a  kind  of  phantom  appearance  of  a  body ;  that 
he  seemed  to  be  born,  to  be  crucified,  and  to  rise  again,  but  that 
he  was  only  so  in  pretence,  and  not  in  reality  and  truth.  These 
were  some  of  the  principal  tenets  of  the  Nicolaitanes. 

Our  Lord  says,  "  Thou  hast  them  which  hold  the  doctrine  of 
the  Nicolaitanes,  which  thing  1  hate.'*  This  teaches  us,  that 
false  doctrine  is  not  a  light  thing.     Many  will  tell  you, 

"For  modes  of  faith  let  senseless  zealots  fight; 
His  can't  be  wrong  whose  life  is  in  the  right :" 

forgetting  that  the  idea  is  absurd.  Wherever  there  is  doctrinal 
error  in  the  head,  there  will  be  generally  practical  corruption  in 
the  life.  To  be  sound  in  doctrine  is  not  second,  but  rather  supe- 
rior, to  being  correct  in  conduct  and  practice.  The  man  who  has 
a  creed  without  truth,  will  generally  be  found  to  have  a  life  with- 
out consistency  and  holiness.  It  is  a  great  fact,  that  "  as  a  man 
thinks,  so  is  he."  But  there  is  a  distinction  here  made,  as  you 
will  perceive,  between  the  principles  and  the  persons  of  the  Nico- 
laitanes. This  teaches  us  always  to  distinguish  between  the 
minister  and  the  error  that  he  holds.  Hate  the  doctrine  that  is 
corrupt,  but  love  and  pray  for  the  men  that  are  the  subjects  of  it. 
It  is  possible  so  to  hate  the  doctrine,  that  you  will  do  every  thing 
to  destroy  it,  but  so  to  love  the  n>en  who  are  the  subjects  of  that 


254  THE  CHURCH  OF  PERGAMOS. 

doctrine,  that  you  will  do  everything  to  emancipate  and  deliver 
them.  Our  hatred  to  the  error  may  be  just  in  the  ratio  of  our 
love  to  the  man.  We  may  have  the  greatest  love  to  the  Nicolai- 
tanes,  and  the  greatest  antipathy  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Nicolai- 
tanes.  Hence,  when  T  speak  strongly  of  the  errors  of  Socinians, 
do  not  run  away  with  the  conclusion,  that  I  hate  Socinians.  Or 
if  I  speak  strongly  of  the  errors  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  do  not 
say  I  hate  Roman  Catholics.  I  denounce  the  error,  because  I 
love  the  subjects  of  it ;  I  detest  the  crime, — I  pity  and  pray  for 
the  criminal.  And  surely,  if  a  man  holds  a  wrong  doctrine,  and 
a  doctrine  that  is  leading  him  to  the  depths  of  ruin,  instead  of 
directing  his  path  to  the  Lamb,  what  man  is  so  much  to  be  pitied  ? 
Of  all  misfortunes,  the  greatest,  surely,  is  losing  the  way  that 
leads  to  heaven ;  and  instead  of  being  angry  with  a  man  who  has 
lost  the  way  to  happiness,  our  duty  is  to  pity  him,  to  pray  for 
him,  to  show  him  how  I  hate  his  error,  but  how  1  love  himself, 
by  trying  to  undeceive  him  in  the  one  way,  and  to  bless  him  and 
to  do  him  good  in  the  other.  If  a  man  is  seen  drinking  poison 
without  being  conscious  of  it,  you  cannot  tell  him  too  strongly 
of  his  danger;  if  a  blind  man  is  walking  into  a  precipice,  you 
cannot  pull  him  back  too  instantly.  If  a  man  holds  doctrines 
that  destroy  his  soul,  you  cannot  point  out  his  error  too  power- 
fully or  too  clearly ;  and  if  you  fail  to  warn  him,  you  show  both 
hatred  to  the  man,  and  unfaithfulness  to  duty. 

We  may  gather,  too,  another  lesson  from  this  passage :  that  it 
is  not  sinful  to  call  a  sect  after  the  name  of  its  founder.  Some 
persons  have  said  the  name  of  Puseyite,  bestowed  upon  those 
who  hold  the  livings  of  the  Protestant  Church,  but  who  maintain 
all  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  is  uncharitable.  I 
think  we  are  warranted  in  bestowing  it ;  our  Lord  says,  that  those 
who  held  the  doctrines  of  Nicolas  were  Nicolaitanes.  Thus,  too, 
we  are  quite  justified,  I  think,  in  calling  those  Socinians  who 
hold  the  doctrine  of  Socinus.  But  let  us  do  so  merely  for  dis- 
tinction's sake,  not  in  contempt  or  bitterness,  or  in  an  unchari- 
table spirit. 

We  learn  from  this,  too,  that  Churches  are  dealt  with  according 
to  their  faithfulness.  This  Church  was  visited  with  chastisement 
because  of  its  unfaithfulness  in  the  pulpit,  and  its  immorality  in 
the  pew.     Wherever  we  see  a  church  waning  in  its  character, 


UNFAITHFULNESS.  255 

failing  in  its  exertion,  we  may  fear  that  there  is  some  want  of 
faithfulness  in  those  that  rule,  or  some  deficiency  in  those  whose 
duty  it  is  to  obey.  The  Church  was  called  upon  to  repent  j 
"  Repent,  or  else  I  will  come  unto  thee  quickly,  and  will  fight 
against  thee  with  the  sword  of  my  mouth :"  i.  e.  retrace  the  con- 
duct which  you  have  pursued.  Begin  a  new  and  far  more  scrip- 
tural policy.  Remove  the  error  which  deforms  and  defaces  your 
communion ;  pray  for,  and  pity,  and  labour  to  convert  those  who 
hold  that  error.  There  is  repentance  which  is  mere  conviction 
and  remorse — that  Judas  had ;  there  is  repentance  which  is  also 
knowledge  of  guilt — that  also  Judas  had  ;  there  is  a  repentance 
which  is  deep  and  piercing  sorrow — that  also  Judas  had ;  but  there 
is  a  repentance  which  is  like  the  feeling  of  a  child  who  is  con- 
scious of  having  oflfended  a  loving  and  affectionate  father,  and 
which  feels  this  as  its  greatest  grief,  "  My  Father,  against  thee, 
thee  only,  have  I  sinned  and  done  this  evil  in  thy  sight."  This 
Church  had  so  sinned,  and  was  called  upon,  not  to  put  down  the 
Balaamites  and  the  Nicolaitanes  by  force, — which  would  have 
been  persecution, — nor  to  connive  at  the  existence  of  their  errors, 
which  would  have  been  compromise ;  but  to  refute  those  errors 
by  clear  argument,  and  to  reform  them  by  love,  by  prayer,  by 
truth.  This  command  to  repent  is  addressed  to  all  the  ministers, 
rulers,  and  members  of  the  Church  of  Pergamos;  and  this  re- 
pentance was  to  be  shown  by  a  retractation  or  reformation  of  the 
course  which  they  had  pursued.  But  there  may  be  more  in  it. 
It  may  be  that  this  Church  was  morally,  as  well  as  ecclesiastically, 
guilty.  Their  conduct  may  have  encouraged  the  Nicolaitanes 
and  prevented  their  reformation,  conviction,  and  conversion.  It 
may  have  been  loss  of  temper  on  the  part  of  the  Church ;  or 
it  may  have  been  calling  them  by  hard  names,  instead  of  using 
strong  arguments  j  or  it  may  have  been  speaking  to  them  in  bit- 
terness, instead  of  speaking  to  them  in  love ;  and  therefore  this 
Church  may  have  been  called  upon  to  repent  of  all  this,  as  well 
as  to  reform  her  doctrines.  Kindness  is  a  weapon  of  the  keenest 
edge.  That  sort  of  controversy  which  consists  in  calling  people 
hard  names,  saying  bitter  things  against  them,  charging  them 
with  believing  what  they  repudiate,  and  ascribing  to  them  motives 
of  which  they  have  no  knowledge,  is  productive  of  incalculable 


I 

•4 


25G  THE  CHURCH  OF  PEUGAMOS. 

mischief.  But  if  controversy  be  used  to  dislodge  error,  by  the 
appliance  of  truth — if  it  be  speaking  the  truth  in  love,  and  love 
in  truth ;  hating  the  error,  but  praying  for  the  errorist's  conver- 
sion,— such  controversy  is  that  which  this  Church  did  not  employ, 
and  which  she  was  called  upon  to  repeat  for  not  having  long  ago 
employed  vigorously  and  zealously  against  the  heretics  in  the 
midst  of  her  communion. 

We  learn  next,  from  the  whole  of- this  epistle,  that  a  pure 
faith  is  of  the  greatest  importance  in  a  Christian  Church,  and 
that  to  hold  fsdse  doctrine  is  the  most  terrible  calamity.  To  hold 
a  pure  faith  is  a  great  and  unspeakable  blessing,  as  to  seek  it  is  a 
solemn  and  a  sacred  duty.  But  we  have  no  reason  for  supposing 
that  these  Nicolaitanes  were  not  to  be  blamed,  because  they  con- 
scientiously held  their  errors.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  Nicolai- 
tanes were  perfectly  conscientious  in  holding  the  doctrines  which 
are  here  so  strongly  condemned  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  but 
the  fact  of  a  man's  holding  an  error  conscientiously  does  not 
make  that  error  truth ;  it  merely  makes  the  man  to  be  more  re- 
spected ;  and  teaches  us  that  we  are  the  more  tenderly  to  treat 
him.  Because,  for  instance,  a  Socinian  is  conscientious  in  his 
Socinianism,  his  Socinianism  is  not  on  that  account  less  unscrip- 
tural ;  but  the  person  is  on  that  account  more  to  be  respected 
because  he  is  sincere.  I  respect  the  man  because  he  is  con- 
scientious ;  I  pray  for  him  because  his  error  is  a  serious  and  a 
fatal  one ;  I  will  try  to  confute  it  and  lead  him  to  a  better  con- 
viction because  I  love  him. 

Such  seem  to  be  the  lessons  to  be  gathered  from  this  portion 
of  the  address  to  the  Church  of  Pergamos.  The  Divine  Author 
declares  that  "  if  she  does  not  reform,  according  to  bis  exhorta- 
tion, he  will  come  unto  her  and  fight  against  her  with  the  sword 
of  his  mouth;"  and  although  her  candlestick  might  not  be  re- 
moved, as  was  the  case  with  the  Church  of  Ephesus  on  account 
of  her  entire  apostasy  from  the  truth,  yet  at  this  moment,  accord- 
ing to  the  testimony  of  travellers,  there  are  about  15,000  in- 
habitants in  Pergamos,  and  about  3,000  or  4,000  of  these  belong 
to  the  Greek  and  Armenian  Churches.  It  is  remarkable  that  the 
threat  addressed  to  Ephesus  was  the  total  removal  of  her  candle- 
stick, and  at  this  moment  there  is  not  a  Christian  in  Ephesus. 


m 


UNFAITHFULNESS.  257 

No  such  threat  was  addressed  to  Smyrna ;  and  therefore  Chris- 
tianity exists  in  Smyrna  in  greater  power,  and  is  professed  by  a 
greater  muhitude  than  in  any  other  of  the  seven  Churches.  The 
threat  addressed  to  Pergamos  was  not  the  total  extinction  of  her 
privileges,  but  "  fighting  against  her  with  the  sword  of  his  mouth," 
She  sinned,  and  she  has  sufi"ered  j  for,  though  not  extinguished, 
-it  is  after  all  but  the  shadow  of  a  Church  that  is  now  left. 

Let  us  learn  from  all  this  that  we  stand  by  faith ;  whether  as 
the  Church  of  a  country,  or  the  Church  within  these  walls,  we 
live  by  faith.  Our  candlestick  will  be  removed,  if  we  are  un- 
faithful to  our  duties;  Christ  will  fight  against  us  with  the  sword 
of  his  mouth,  if  we  are  unthankful  for  our  privileges.  May  a 
blessing  rest  both  upon  the  pulpit  and  the  pew  !  May  there  de- 
scend upon  us  a  double  portion  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  that  as  we 
grow  in  years,  and  as  the  night  grows  less,  and  the  twilight  of 
the  approaching  day  becomes  brighter,  we  may  be  found  "  faith- 
ful unto  death,"  the  heirs  of  a  crown  of  glory  that  fadeth  not 
away. 


^, 


2a» 


LECTURE  XVL 

THE  HIDDEN   MANNA  AND  WHITE  STONE. 

"He  that  hatli  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  ucto  the  Churches; 
To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  gire  to  eat  of  the  hidden  manna,  and  I  will 
give  him  a  white  stone,  and  in  the  stone  a  new  name  written,  which  no  man 
knoweth  saving  he  that  receiveth  it," — Ret.  ii.  17. 

We  gather  from  the  histories  of  the  Churches  on  which  I  have 
already  commented,  this  great  truth,  that  Churches  may  perish 
because  of  their  unfaithfulness  to  God,  but  that  individual  Chris- 
tians in  the  midst  of  them  shall,  notwithstanding,  be  delivered, 
because  of  their  having  overcome  the  evil  one,  and  having  been 
made  more  than  conquerors  through  him  that  loved  them.  You 
must  have  noticed  in  all  the  promises  given  to  the  Churches  in 
the  epistles  which  I  have  already  analyzed,  that  there  is  the  sup- 
position that  the  Church  may  fall — and,  in  the  case  of  Ephesus, 
the  certainty  that  the  Church  fell  completely — but  there  is  also 
implied  the  blessed  assurance  that  true  Christian  individuals  in 
the  midst  of  each  shall  not  fall,  because  they  overcome,  and  in- 
herit the  promises  made  to  them  that  overcome.  It  is  delightful 
to  see  a  whole  Church  increase  in  beauty,  in  holiness,  in  glory  j 
but  it  is  cheering  to  know  that  when  that  Church  shall  retrograde, 
there  may  be  in  the  midst  of  it,  and  in  spite  of  it,  those  who  have 
received  the  grace,  and  unfold  the  character,  and  are  inheritors 
of  the  glory  of  God.  So  it  has  been  in  the  case  of  the  great 
western  apostasy ;  the  Church  of  Rome,  as  a  Church,  has  become 
apostate,  but  in  that  Church,  and  in  every  age  and  century,  and 
phase  of  that  Church,  and  in  spite  of  repressive  tyranny  and 
cruelty,  true  Christians  have  been.  There  are,  at  this  moment, 
in  the  Church  of  Rome,  the  people  of  God.     In  the  harrowing 

258 


THE  HIDDEN  MANNA  AND  WHITE  STONE.  269 

details  of  the  revelations  which  have  recently  been  made  of  the 
Inquisition  at  Rome,  some  of  which  I  may,  on  a  subsequent  eve- 
ning, submit  to  you  as  evidence  of  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy,  it 
is  stated  that  there  was  found  an  inscription  on  the  dungeon 
walls,  written  by  some  poor  martyr  that  pined  and  suffered  in  the 
midst  of  it,  to  this  effect :  —  "  Blessed  Jesus,  they  may  separate 
me  from  thy  Church,  but  they  cannot  separate  me  from  Thee." 
Here  was  a  saint  in  the  midst  of  the  Inquisition  —  a  martyr,  not 
written  in  the  martyrology  of  man,  but  inscribed  and  canonized 
in  the  calendar  of  God,  and  whose  biography  is  embodied  in  the 
simple,  yet  sublime  prayer,  "  Blessed  Jesus,  they  may  separate 
me  from  thy  Church,  but  they  cannot  separate  me  from  Thee." 
He  might  have  added  the  ground  of  his  faith  —  "neither  life, 
nor  death,  nor  angels,  nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  height, 
nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature"  —  he  might  have  said,  "  nor 
pope,  nor  cardinal,  nor  inquisitor,"  —  "  can  separate  me  from  the 
love  of  Grod  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus." 

We  find  again,  from  the  verse  which  forms  the  subject  of  this 
evening's  analysis,  that  the  promise  is  made  to  him  that  over- 
cometh  j"  every  true  Christian  is  a  soldier,  and  will  be,  if  not  to- 
day, to-morrow  a  conqueror.  He  that  is  not  a  soldier  is  not  a 
Christian ;  he  that  never  wars,  by  the  very  necessity  of  his  con- 
dition, will  never  overcome.  I  have  already  shown  where  the 
battle-field  is.  Sometimes  it  is  the  counting-house;  sometimes 
behind  the  counter ;  sometimes  around  the  domestic  hearth ;  and 
always,  when  real,  it  rages  in  that  realm  in  which  conflict  is  ever 
rife,  and  in  which  right  is  sovereign,  the  conscience  of  the  indi- 
vidual. In  alluding  to  conscience  conflict,  I  may  state,  as  a  great 
maxim,  that  in  matters  of  logic,  second  thoughts  are  always  best ; 
but  in  matters  of  conscience,  second  thoughts  are  always  wrong. 
When,  in  a  question  of  reasoning,  you  have  any  doubt,  stop,  pon- 
der, conclude ;  but  whenever,  in  a  matter  of  morals,  you  have  any 
hesitation,  you  may  be  sure  that  abstinence  is  the  holy,  the  safe 
and  the  happy  side. 

The  promise  is,  "  To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  give  to  eat 
of  the  hidden  manna."  Why  is  the  term  "  hidden"  applied  to 
this  manna?  Because  it  relates  to,  and  is  the  nutriment  of  the 
hidden  life.    It  is  said  of  a  believer's  life,  "  Your  life  is  hid  with 


260  THE  CHURCH  OF  PERGAMOS. 

Christ  in  God."  The  bodily,  or  animal  life,  is  seen — is  the  sub- 
ject of  inspection ;  the  intellectual  life  is  the  subject  of  analysis; 
spiritual  life  is  that  secret  and  mysterious  union  and  communion 
with  the  Fountain  of  life  which  no  eye  of  man  can  see,  and  no 
analysis  of  logic  can  unfold,  and  which,  I  may  add,  no  force  or 
stratagem  of  man  can  dislocate  or  destroy.  The  life  of  a  believer 
is  hidden,  because  it  is  sustained  from  a  hidden  source.  You 
can  see  what  our  animal  life  is ;  you  can  trace  it  from  that  con- 
stantly working  and  never  wearying  mainspring — the  heart;  but 
the  spiritual  life  you  cannot  trace,  because  it  is  sustained  by  the 
cord — the  electric  wire  that  connects  you  with  Christ,  and  raises 
your  communion  to  a  height  to  which  mortal  eye  cannot  reach, 
and  human  wing  cannot  soar.  It  is  a  life,  the  spring,  the  origin, 
and  the  supply  of  which  you  cannot  see ;  it  is,  therefore,  a  life 
which  is  "  hidden"  to  the  world — the  world  can  neither  under- 
stand its  principles,  nor  its  operation,  nor  its  love  of  holiness  for 
holiness'  sake,  nor  its  constant  living  and  acting  as  seeing  him 
who  is  invisible.  It  is  "  hidden"  to  the  world,  because  it  is  so 
opposed  to  the  likes  and  sympathies  of  the  world.  The  life  of 
this  world  courts  power  and  applause ;  it  arrays  itself  in  purple 
and  fine  linen ;  it  loves  to  be  called  liabbi,  and  to  pray  in  the 
market-place ;  it  sounds  a  trumpet  wherever  it  goes,  and  delights 
to  be  seen  and  spoken  of  by  men.  This  is  this  world's  life,  and 
it  has  its  reward;  but  the  "hidden"  life,  the  true  life,  the  life 
of  the  child  of  God,  is  hidden  from  the  world,  because  it  is,  like 
its  source,  unseen  and  unknown  to  the.  world.  "  The  king's 
daughter,"  we  are  told,  "is  glorious  within;"  and,  therefore, 
when  this  hidden  life  prays,  it  enters  into  the  closet,  and  shuts 
the  door ;  it  comes  not  with  observation ;  there  is  no  procession 
of  splendor,  of  pomp,  and  of  power  before  it ;  it  is  not  clothed 
with  purple  and  fine  linen ;  it  is  often  found  in  cellars,  in  gar- 
rets, in  sequestered  nooks,  and  in  desert  places :  the  outward  life 
dies ;  the  inward  life  is  renewed  day  by  day. 

Such  then  is  the  "hidden"  life,  of  which  the  "manna"  here 
spoken  of  is  the  nutriment.  But  believers  themselves  are  also 
spoken  of  as  "  hidden."  A  beautiful  epithet  occurs  in  Psalm 
Ixxxiii.  3,  "  thy  hidden  ones,"  and  the  same  apostle  who  wrote 
the  Apocalypse,  speaking  of  the  Christian's  "  hidden  "  character, 


THE  niDDEN  MANNA  AND  WHITE  STONE.  261 

says,  "  The  world  knoweth  us  not,  because  it  knew  him  not.  Now 
are  we  the  sons  of  God,  but  it  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall 
be ;  but  we  know  that  when  he  shall  appear  we  shall  be  like  him, 
for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is."  And  therefore  this  word  "  hidden" 
is  applied  to  show  that  the  world  cannot  see  and  appreciate  the 
subjects  of  this  life. 

But  more  than  this :  the  word  "  hidden,"  as  used  in  Scripture, 
denotes  also  "  safe."  For  instance,  the  man  who  has  found  the 
treasure,  "  goeth  and  hideth  it:"  hideth  it,  for  what?  Because 
it  is  precious,  and  in  order  to  conceal  it  from  the  eye  of  the  thief 
and  the  robber.  Again  it  is  written,  "  In  the  shadow  of  his 
hand  hath  he  hid  me."  And  again,  "  In  time  of  trouble  the 
Lord  shall  hide  thee  in  his  pavilion  j"  and  we  are  told  that  the 
believer  is  safe,  because  God  is  "  his  refuge  and  his  hiding- 
place." 

But  while  this  is  one  meaning  of  the  word  "  hidden,"  its  pri- 
mary meaning  is  unquestionably  "concealed"  or  "obscured;" 
and  denotes  that  believers  are  concealed  from  the  world ;  they  are 
not  known,  or  observed,  or  noticed  by  the  world;  sometimes 
they  are  hidden' by  their  circumstances,  and  sometimes,  even,  by 
their  own  infirmities.  Very  often  you  see  a  very  rugged  temper 
embosoming  the  jewel  of  a  truly  holy  heart.  None  but  a  true 
Christian  can  penetrate  this  rough  outward  covering,  and  behold 
the  rich  gem  within.  You  are  not,  therefore,  to  say  that  a  man 
is  not  a  Christian  because  he  has  not  your  pliancy  of  nature  and 
sweetness  of  temper.  There  may  he  more  Christianity  in  that 
hot-tempered,  rough-spoken  man,  than  there  is  in  that  sweet, 
bland,  courteous  worldling,  who,  with  an  external  the  most 
amiable  and  inviting,  has  a  heart  within  him  replete  with  all  that 
is  evil.  •  j 

It  is  thus,  then,  that  a  believer  is  sometimes  "  hidden  "  by  hia 
own  infirmities :  and,  in  such  a  case,  it  is  specially  true,  it  needs 
grace  to  see  grace. 

A  believer  may  also  be  "  hidden "  by  the  place  in  which  he 
is.  If  a  true  Christian  sits  upon  a  throne,  or  wears  a  coronet, 
all  around  may  see  it  and  will  feel  it.  Wherever  there  is  Christ 
tian  grace,  its  expression  will  be  seen  in  Christian  beneficence. 
But  are  there   not  true  Christians  in  cottages  and  in  lonely 


262  THE  CHURCH  OF  PERGAMOS. 

places  ?  The  Christianity  of  a  rich  man  all  will  be  able  to  see 
by  its  outward  expression.  But  the  Christianity  of  a  poor  man 
cannot  so  easily  be  seen ;  it  is  "  hidden,"  because  it  has  not  the 
means  of  outwardly  expressing  itself. 

Real  Christians  may  be  "  hidden  "  by  persecution.  The  poor 
Christian,  whose  inscription  I  have  mentioned  on  the  walls  of 
the  Inquisition  at  Rome,  was  a  Christian  hidden  from  the  worid 
by  persecution,  and  not  only  a  Christian,  but  a  martyr  for  the 
name  of  Jesus.  We  all  think,  when  we  are  placed  in  some 
obscure  position,  that  we  can  do  no  good ;  but  we  are,  in  this 
supposition,  very  much  mistaken.  We  say,  if  we  were  only 
placed  at  such  a  height,  we  should  so  shine  that  we  should  make 
the  whole  world  Christian.  We  are  deceived — we  misapprehend; 
we  may  depend  upon  it,  that  every  man  is  at  this  moment  placed 
in  that  position  in  which  he  may,  if  he  will,  do  the  greatest 
good.  It  matters  not  what  our  place  may  be,  or  what  its  require- 
ments may  be,  you  are  there  just  because  you  are  wanted  there. 
That  poor  man  to  whom  I  have  before  alluded,  who  was  cast  into 
the  Inquisition,  thrown  down  the  horrible  deep  funnel  by  his 
persecutors,  and  his  bones  burned  to  cinders,  no  doubt  thought, 
while  he  was  expecting  his  death,  that  he  could  be  of  no  use  to 
any  in  the  world  or  the  Church.  He  doubted,  mart}T  though 
he  was.  The  year  1849  comes ;  the  Inquisition  is  laid  bare, 
and  that  poor  man  becomes  a  preacher  of  the  gospel  by  the  dim 
inscription  upon  the  walls  of  his  dungeon,  "  0  Christ,  they  may 
separate  me  from  thy  Church,  but  they  cannot  separate  me  from 
Thee."     "  He  being  dead  yet  speaketh." 

Having  noticed  the  Christian's  "  hidden  life,"  let  me  also  no- 
tice the  Christian's  hidden  food.  We  know  the  fact  but  not  the 
mystery  of  a  Christian's  hidden  life ;  let  us  now  look  at  the  fact, 
and  unravel,  if  possible,  the  secret  of  a  Christian's  nutriment  — 
"  hidden  manna."  We  have  an  allusion  to  it  by  our  Lord  when 
he  says,  "  I  am  the  bread  of  life  that  cometh  down  from  heaven. 
Your  fathers  did  eat  manna  in  the  wilderness,  and  are  dead ;  but 
whoso  eateth  of  this  bread  shall  live  for  ever;  and  I  will  raise 
him  up  at  the  last  day."  And  again  He  says,  ''  Except  ye  cat 
the  flesh  and  drink  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  man,  ye  have  no  life 
in  you."    And  again  we  are  told,  "  They  said  therefore  unto  him, 


THE  HIDDEN  MANNA  AND  WHITE  STONE.  263 

What  sign  showest  thou  then,  that  we  may  sec,  and  believe  thee? 
what  dost  thou  work?  Our  fathers  did  eat  manna  in  the  desert; 
as  it  is  written,  He  gave  them  bread  from  heaven  to  eat.  Then 
Jesus  said  unto  them.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  Moses  gave 
you  not  that  bread  from  heaven  ;  but  my  Father  giveth  you  the 
true  bread  from  heaven.  For  the  bread  of  God  is  he  who  cometh 
down  from  heaven,  and  giveth  life  unto  the  world.  Then  said 
they  unto  him,  Lord,  evermore,  give  us  this  bread.  And  Jesus 
said  unto  them,  I  am  the  bread  of  life :  he  that  cometh  to  me 
shall  never  hunger;  and  he  that  beiieveth  on  me  shall  never 
thirst."  Such  is  the  description  of  this  bread.  There  is  a  full 
description  of  the  typical  bread,  which  you  may  read  at  your 
leisure,  in  Exodus  xvi.,  wherein  we  read  the  history  and  the  de- 
scent of  the  manna  in  the  wilderness,  with  the  main  historical 
details  of  which  I  am  sure  you  are  all  acquainted.  Now  just  as 
truly,  my  dear  friends,  as  your  bodies  cannot  subsist  without 
material  bread,  so  surely  your  souls  cannot  live  without  the  living 
manna,  that  is  the  food  suitable  to  them.  If  men  really  felt  this, 
the  Bible  would  be  searched  for  "  daily  bread"  —  the  sanctuary 
would  be  ever  crowded,  and  the  prayer  would  rise  with  greater 
earnestness  from  greater  numbers  of  hungry  hearts,  "  Lord,  ever- 
more give  us  this  bread." 

The  first  feature  in  the  manna  that  was  eaten  in  the  wilderness 
was  this :  it  fell  from  heaven.  It  was  not  like  a  flower  that 
bloomed  on  the  soil,  but  it  fell  perfect  at  once,  and  fully  adapted 
to  the  necessities  of  man,  direct  from  the  skies.  So  "  the  living 
bread"  cometh  down  from  heaven  :  so  Christ  is  not  the  invention 
of  a  human  genius,  or  the  conception  of  a  human  philosophy,  or 
the  growth  of  a  human  root,  but  the  gift  of  God  that  came  upon 
us  as  undeservedly  as  the  manna  fell  from  heaven  upon  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel. 

I  do  not  know  whether  anything  of  the  nature  of  manna  now 
exists  :  some  say  that  it  does ;  others  affirm  that  it  does  not.  I 
am  rather  inclined  to  the  latter  opinion.  What  Ls  the  meaning 
of  the  name  "manna?"  The  Israelites,  when  they  saw  this  sub- 
stance falling  from  the  skies,  and  covering  the  earth  like  snow- 
flakes,  exclaimed,  i<^  1p  Man-hu,  words  which  signify  "  What  is 
it  ?"    Our  translators,  however,  have  left  the  words  untranslated, 


264  THE  CHURCH  OF  PERGAMOS. 

and  hence  it  has  always  been  known  by  the  name  manna,  or 
"  what  is  it  V  as  if  its  mystery  were  meet  symbol  in  name  of  the 
"  hidden  manna."  No  doubt  the  Israelites  were  surprised  at  the 
phenomenon,  and  some  of  them  smiled  at  the  absurdity  of  ex- 
pecting nourishment  from  so  strange  a  source.  When  Christ,  the 
true  manna,  came,  there  was  no  beauty  in  him  that  we  should 
desire  him,  and  the  exclamation,  partly  in  sarcasm  and  partly  in 
wonder,  was,  "  He  saved  others,  himself  he  cannot  save."  The 
last  conclusion  that  a  man  comes  to  is,  that  he  must  be  saved  by 
Christ,  and  by  Christ  alone.  We  ever  think  that  a  little  of  our 
own  righteousness  must  be  added  to  make  the  scale  turn ;  a  little 
of  our  own  tears  must  be  added  to  the  blood  that  he  shed  in  order 
to  make  it  adequately  efficacious.  The  conclusion  which  it  needs 
the  Spirit  of  God  to  teach  is,  that  we  are  justified,  not  by  any- 
thing that  we  are,  nor  by  anything  we  have  done,  nor  anything 
we  have  suffered,  but  wholly,  solely,  completely,  by  the  finished 
righteousness  of  him  who  was  made  sin  for  us,  that  we  might  be 
made  the  righteousness  of  God  by  him. 

Another  peculiar  feature  in  the  manna  which  fell  from  heaven 
was,  that  it  was  for  all  classes.  There  was  but  one  source  and 
one  kind  of  food  for  every  one.  The  Levite,  the  priest,  and  the 
people,  all  shared  the  same  food.  The  rich  and  the  poor,  the 
learned  and  the  ignorant,  equally  partook  of  it;  and  it  was 
equally  accessible  to  all.  The  rich  Jew  was  no  nearer  the  manna 
than  the  poor  Jew;  the  learned  Jew  had  no  further  to  go  than 
the  ignorant  Jew ;  it  fell  among  their  tents,  it  lay  at  their  very 
thresholds.  Is  it  not  yet  better  with  that  living  bread  ?  We 
have  not  to  say,  "  Who  shall  ascend  into  heaven,  to  bring  Christ 
down  from  on  high  ?"  or,  "  Who  shall  descend  into  hell,  to  bring 
Christ  up  from  beneath  ?"  The  word  that  we  preach  sounds  in 
your  ears,  and  that  sound  is  the  echo  of  him  who  said,  "  I  am  the 
way,  the  truth,  and  the  life;  I  am  the  living  bread  that  cometh 
down  from  heaven."  This,  therefore,  is  the  solemn  position  in 
which  every  man  in  this  assembly  at  this  moment  stands  —  that 
if  he  perishes,  he  perishes  with  Christ  the  living  bread  at  his 
very  doors.  No  man  in  this  audience  need  perish ;  there  is  no 
irreversible  decree  that  will  sink  you  into  ruin  in  spite  of  your 
own  wish.    If  you  perish,  you  perish  purely  as  suicides ;  you  sink 


THE  HIDDEN  MANNA  AND  WHITE  STONE.  265 

in  the  waters  "with  an  ark  beside  you  into  which  you  will  not 
enter.  No  words  of  mine  can  justly  paint  the  sin  of  those  who 
hear  tlic  gospel  and  yet  perish  by  rejecting  it, — a  sin  in  depth 
and  in  heinousness  far  greater  than  the  profanity  and  crimes  of 
those  who  never  heard  the  glad  sound. 

This  wilderness-manna  was  suited  to  every  taste.  We  know 
that  it  is  matter  of  fact  that  what  is  food  to  one  man  is  poison  to 
another.  Further,  our  tastes  are  so  different,  that  what  one  likes, 
another  exceedingly  dislikes ;  and  what  is  luxury  to  one,  is  an 
offence  to  another;  and  what  one  man  can  live  upon,  another 
cannot  take  at  all.  So  it  has  been,  and  will  be,  with  any  ordi- 
nary food ;  but  this  provision  was  so  admirably  adapted  to  its 
purpose,  that  every  man  who  tasted  it,  whatever  was  his  peculiar 
taste,  felt  it  to  be  delightful;  and  the  nourishment  of  it  to  be  the 
same.  Thus  it  is  with  Christ,  the  living  bread  :  you  may  not 
like  the  sermon  that  preaches  Christ ;  but  a  Christian  will  like 
the  subject  of  the  sermon,  if  it  be  Christ.  You  may  not  admire 
the  basket  that  carries  the  bread ;  but  you  will  bear  with  the  bas- 
ket that  is  placed  before  you,  for  the  sake  of  the  bread  which  it 
contains. ,  You  may  not  like  the  vessel  that  contains  the  water, 
but  you  will  love  the  living  water  itself;  you  will  rather  halve  the 
living  water  and  the  living  manna  from  the  humblest  vessel,  than 
a  substitute  for  it  from  the  best  and  most  precious  vessel  in  the 
world.  One  of  the  evidences  that  you  are  a  true  Christian  is, 
that  you  can  enjoy  the  plainest  sermon  that  contains  plain,  living, 
instructive,  scriptural  truths.  And  one  of  the  evidences  of  a 
vitiated  taste  is,  when  you  like  the  corn-field  for  its  poppies,  not 
for  its  corn ;  when  you  like  the  sermon  for  its  tinted  flowers,  and 
its  admirable  similes,  and  its  classic  allusions,  not  for  the  sake  of 
.the  saving  truths  which  that  sermon  preaches  to  you.  The  Apos- 
tle says,  "  As  new-born  babes,  desire  the  sincere  milk  of  the 
word,  that  ye  may  grow  thereby."  We  are  also  told  that  "  Ex- 
cept we  be  made  as  little  children,  we  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  God."  A  babe  will  take  nothing  but  the  pure 
milk ;  and  were  you  to  put  into  its  milk  the  richest  and  the  sweetest 
things,  that  babe  would  not  take  it ;  it  likes  what  God  has  pro- 
vided ;  nothing  less  will  do,  nothing  more  is  needed.  So  it  is 
with  the  child  of  God ;  he  will  drink  tho  pure  milk  of  the  word  j 

23 


266  THE  CHURCH  OF  PERQAMOS. 

he  will  eat  the  simple  manna,  and  live  npon  it;  he  will  receive 
it  and  enjoy  it,  though  the  sermon  be  not  so  eloquent  as  his  taste 
might  like,  or  so  exciting  as  his  fancy  might  prefer,  or  so  logical 
as  his  judgment  might  desire ;  let  us  be  thankful  for  living  bread ; 
anil  if  we  cannot  have  that  living  bread  served  in  the  best  basket, 
let  us  be  content  that  we  have  it  at  all.  If  there  are  two  minis- 
ters who  both  preach  the  same  gospel,  and  one  preaches  it  in  a 
way  that  commends  itself  to  your  heart,  your  mind,  and  con- 
science ;  and  the  other  does  not  preach  it  so  clearly,  so  distinctly, 
so  eloquently,  and  with  so  great  profit;  then  I  say,  welcome  and 
accept  the  one  that  suits  you.  God  has  so  arranged  the  ministry 
that  there  is  no  one  taste  which  may  not  be  satisfied:  it  isva 
beautiful  provision,  that  God  has  raised  up  ministers  of  every 
variety  of  style,  of  manner,  and  of  taste.  There  may  be  two 
hundred  ministei-s  of  the  gospel  in  London,  every  one  of  whom 
preaches  in  a  different  style  from  the  rest ;  and  so  you  find  that 
you  can  receive  profit  from  one,  when  you  cannot  receive  the  same 
amount  of  profit  from  another.  Choose  what  basket  you  like,  but 
take  care  that  it  contains  that  living  manna  which  alone  can 
nourish  the  soul. 

In  the  next  place,  it  is  not  enough  to  hear  the  manna  described, 
it  is  not  enough  to  see  it,  you  must  also  eat  it  for  yourselves.  If 
the  Israelite  of  old  had  looked  from  his  tent,  and  been  pleased 
with  the  beautiful  white  covering  that  clothed  the  desert,  and 
then  retired  to  his  tent  again,  he  would  have  perished  with  hun- 
ger :  or  if  some  of  the  chemists  of  that  day  had  taken  it,  and 
analyzed  it,  and  forgotten  to  eat  it,  they  too  would  have  perished 
with  hunger.  So  it  is  with  us ;  it  is  possible  to  form  the  most 
exquisite  harmony  of  the  gospel,  to  be  perfect  critics  and  admi- 
rable theologians,  to  be  constantly  handling  the  basket  that  con- . 
tains  the  manna,  and  yet  not  to  have  eaten  of  the  living  manna 
that  nourishes  the  immortal  soul.  Ministers  may  preach,  and  yet 
not  profit ;  they  may  distribute  the  manna,  and  yet  not  eat  of  it 
themselves  :  every  minister  of  the  gospel  knows  the  great  temp- 
tation that  besets  him ;  namely,  to  read  the  Bible  as  if  he  were 
in  the  pulpit,  instead  of  reading  it  as  having  entered  into  the 
closet  and  shut  the  door ;  to  open  the  Bible  and  begin  to  ask, 
'  first,  How  shall  I  explain  this  to  my  people  so  as  to  reach  their 


THE  HIDDEN  MANNA  AND  WHITE  STONE.  267 

consciences  most  directly?  instead  of  asking  first,  How  shall  I 
feed  myself  with  living  manna  that  I  may  grow  thereby  ?  May 
I  shut  out  the  minister  when  I  enter  the  closet.  We  must  stand 
before  G-od,  we  must  answer  before  God,  as  individuals  alone. 
Let  us  so  live,  so  pray,  so  read,  so  teach,  and  then  we  shall  so  die. 

I  notice  another  feature  of  this  manna;  it  was  gathered  daily  : 
we  are  told  that  the  children  of  Israel  were  obliged  to  go  out 
every  morning  to  gather  it,  and  if  any  tried  to  gather  one  day 
suf&cient  to  last  him  both  that  day  and  the  next  day  too,  he  found 
that  the  bread  which  was  food  on  the  one  day,  engendered  cor- 
ruption on  the  next;  God  having  so  arranged  it  that  each  one 
should  have  enough  for  himself,  but  none  should  have  anything 
to  spare  for  another.  It  was  so  with  the  five  wise  and  the  five 
foolish  virgins.  Each  wise  virgin  had  taken  oil  enough  for  her 
own  lamp,  but  she  had  nothing  to  spare  for  another.  But  you 
say,  "  Is  not  this  destroying  the  missionary  idea  that  you  so  fre- 
quently inculcate  ?"  By  no  means ;  for  that  missionary  spirit 
consists,  not  in  giving  grace  to  others,  but  in  telling  others  where 
grace  is  to  be  had.  When  God  gives  me  justification,  I  cannot 
impart  that  justification  to  another;  when  God  gives  me  a  new 
heart,  I  cannot  impart  it  to  my  neighbour;  when  God  gives  me 
holiness,  I  cannot  infuse  it  into  another;  but  I  can  tell  every 
man,  and  it  is  my  duty  and  my  privilege  to  tell  every  man,  where 
he  may  go  and  obtain  light,  and  life,  and  salvation,  and  so  bo 
made  an  inheritor  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

In  the  next  place,  you  will  recollect,  that  after  the  manna  had 
ceased,  a  portion  of  it  was  preserved  and  laid  up  in  a  golden 
vessel,  in  the  Holy  of  Holies :  and  so  He  who  says,  "  I  am  the 
living  bread,"  has  now  entered  into  the  true  Holy  of  Holies, 
whence  he  supplies  that  hidden  nutriment  to  his  people  which 
supports  their  hidden  life. 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  examine  the  second  part  of  the  promise 
here  made  to  him  that  overcometh ;  "  I  will  give  him  a  white 
stone,  and  in  the  stone  a  new  name  written."  You  that  over- 
come— who  do  not  act  like  Balaam  who  took  the  wages  of  unright- 
eousness— ^you  shall  not  lose  your  reward ;  you  shall  obtain,  what 
is  more  precious  than  earthly  and  corruptible  gold,  hidden  manna, 
the  nutriment  of  the  hidden  life,  and  of  which  if  you  eat,  you 


268  THE  CHURCH  OF  PERGAMOS. 

shall  live  for  ever.  And  not  only  so,  but  "I  will  give  him  a 
■white  stone,  and  in  the  stone  a  new  name  written."  Let  me  very 
bi'iefly  explain  this  promise.  The  most  ancient  manner  of  record- 
ing events  was  by  heaps  of  stones ;  in  the  primitive  ages  of  the 
world,  when  any  great  event  took  place,  it  was  commemorated  by 
a  pile  of  stones.  So  in  Scotland,  before  the  time  of  the  Druids, 
we  had  what  are  called  cairns,  which  were  monuments  of  this 
kind.  In  after  ages,  a  single  stone  was  used,  and  an  inscription 
engraven  upon  it.  Thus  in  Deuteronomy  xxvii.  we  read  the 
command  given  to  the  Israelites,  to  take  great  stones,  and  plaster 
them  with  plaster  (to  make  them  white),  and  engrave  upon  them 
all  the  words  of  the  law.  After  stones  had  ceased  to  be  generally 
used,  the  bark  of  some  tree  was  substitued  for  them,  which  was 
afterwards  succeeded  by  the  Egyptian  "papyrus;"  and  after  this 
had  likewise  become  obsolete,  parchment,  or  the  skin  of  the  sheep 
or  calf,  became  the  usual  substance  on  which  events  were  recorded; 
and  after  it,  the  most  perfect  of  all,  paper.  These  changes  may 
be  noticed  in  the  origin  of  the  names  by  which  it  was  known. 
Thus  W1''??  in  Greek,  means  properly  "wood:"  and  because 
wood  was  one  of  the  implements  anciently  used  for  writing  on, 
"charta,"  the  Latin  derivative,  means  "paper."  Again,  the 
word  /St/S^os-  means,  in  Greek,  a  "  plant ;"  but  when  the  leaves  of 
plants  were  used  as  materials  for  writing  on,  the  word  |3i^xoj-  came 
to  signify  "  a  book."  Thus,  too,  the  word  -^fo;  in  Greek,  means 
a  "  stone,"  which  is  derived  from  the  Hebrew  word  "  sepher,"  (a 
book,)  which  also  meant  originally  a  "  stone ;"  and  from  ^fo$  is 
derived  the  Greek  word,  ao^bg,  "  wise,"  which  is  found  in  com- 
position in  our  word  "philosopher,"  a  lover  of  wisdom;  because 
bookmen  were,  or  were  supposed  to  be,  wise  men.  Hence  the 
origin  of  the  expression,  "  I  will  give  him  a  white  stone,  and  in 
the  stone  a  new  name  written."  White  stones  were  also  anciently 
used  for  another  purpose  :  when  a  person  was  to  be  tried  for  any 
offence,  the  presiding  judge  delivered  to  each  of  the  judges,  or 
as  we  should  call  them,  jurymen,  two  stones,  a  white  and  a  black  ; 
and  after  all  the  evidence  had  been  heard,  the  juryman  who  voted 
for  the  acquittal  of  the  prisoner,  dropped  into  the  urn,  or  ballot- 
box,  a  white  stone;  and  he  who  voted  for  his  condemnation, 
dropped  in  a  black  one ;  and  if  the  majority  of  the  stones  were 


THE  HIDDEN  MANNA  AND  WHITE  STONE.  269 

black,  the  prisoner  was  condemned ;  if  white,  he  was  acquitted ; 
the  custom,  in  this  respect,  corresponding  with  that  of  Scotland, 
where  the  opinion  of  the  majority  of  the  jury  decides  the  ques- 
tion ;  a  plan  which  I  think  superior  to  the  English  method,  which 
requires  the  jury  to  be  unanimous.  Now  here  our  Lord  says, 
*•'  I  will  give  you  a  white  stone,"  not  a  black  one :  when  you 
stand  at  the  judgment  bar,  when  the  thrones  shall  be  set  and  the 
books  opened,  your  name  shall  be  written  upon  a  white  stone, 
you  shall  not  come  into  condemnation,  but  I  will  accept,  and 
justify,  and  glorify  you  at  that  day  of  trial,  and  of  searching, 
and  of  confusion  to  the  guilty. 

There  is,  however,  another  and  a  very  beautiful  explanation 
given,  by  some  commentators,  of  this  promise ;  though  I  do  not 
think  it  is  so  correct  as  that  which  I  have  just  now  offered.  In 
ancient  times  there  were  no  such  things  as  hotels.  Such  places 
are  strong  evidences  of  a  civilization,  which  is  the  result  of  Chris- 
tianity. When  one  travelled,  he  was  therefore  obliged  to  lodge 
with  friends;  hence  the  great  value,  in  those  days,  of  hospitality. 
But  after  you  had  been  hospitably  entertained  by  any  one,  and 
you  had  partaken  of  his  salt  (as  it  was  called),  or  eaten  of  his 
bread,  it  was  understood  that  you  had  made  a  permanent  friend- 
ship with  him ;  and  it  was  customary  for  the  host  to  take  a 
white  stone,  called  a  "  tessera,"  which  he  split  into  two  parts, 
one  of  which  he  gave  to  his  guest,  while  he  himself  retained  the 
other.  The  guest  and  the  host  then  each  wrote  their  names  on 
their  respective  halves :  and  thus  a  league  of  hospitality  was 
formed  between  them ;  and  if,  in  after  life,  either  of  them  should 
be  journeying  near  the  abode  of  the  other,  and  should  stand  in 
need  of  his  hospitable  entertainment,  he  was  entitled,  upon  pre- 
senting his  half  of  the  divided  stone,  to  receive  it.  It  is  then  as 
if  Christ  said,  I  have  given  you  hidden  manna  from  my  hospita- 
ble board,  I  have  admitted  you  to  the  rights  of  that  glorious  hos- 
pitality which  earth  cannot  parallel ;  and  I  will  give  you  now,  as 
evidence  that  I  have  so  admitted  you,  "  a  white  stone  with  a  new 
name  written,"  which  shall  be  a  pledge  to  you  that  you  walk  the 
earth  as  my  friend,  and  shall  be  received  into  heaven  to  enjoy 
the  hospitality  of  that  far  better  and  more  glorious  home,  from 
which  you  never  shall  withdraw. 

23* 


270         THE  CHURCH  OP  PERGAMOS. 

The  "new  name"  may  allude  to  the  ancient  custom  of 
changing  the  name  of  a  person  who  had  been  raised  to  a  new 
official  rank.  Thus  the  names  of  the  three  Hebrew  youths  in 
Babylon  were  changed;  thus  Joseph's  was  changed;  and  we, 
too,  are  no  more  aliens  and  strangers,  but  fellow-citizens  with 
saints.  This  "  new  name  "  was  on  a  white  stone.  Justification 
carries  adoption  in  its  bosom ;  a  change  of  state  is  followed  by 
change  of  character.  The  justified  sinner  is  not  merely  an 
acquitted  criminal,  tolerated  by  the  new  society  into  which  ho 
enters,  but  a  converted  son,  beloved  and  welcome. 

The  world  knows  not  the  believer.  His  whole  life  and  joy 
are  a  mystery  to  the  world.  Nor  does  the  world  approve  of  him. 
^*  Marvel  not  if  the  world  hate  you."  "  The  world  knoweth  us 
not."  "  The  carnal  mind  is  enmity."  Yet  Christ  knows  us, 
and  will  openly  receive  and  bless  us. 

Are  we  candidates,  my  brethren,  for  these  glorious  hopes? 
Do  these  promises  sound  in  our  hearts  deep  and  lasting  and  full 
of  melody  as  voices  from  the  bettor  land  ?  Do  we  pray  that  the 
real  and  enduring  blessings  which  they  announce  may  be  our 
perpetual  inheritance?  They  are  the  utterance  of  a  Father's 
voice,  significant  of  the  depth  and  intensity  of  his  love  to  us,  and 
his  desire  to  have  us.  They  are  written  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
the  Amanuensis  who  never  errs,  in  that  precious  blood  which 
never  perishes.  "  He  that  despised  Moses'  law  died  without 
mercy  under  two  or  three  witnesses :  of  how  much  sorer  punish- 
ment, suppose  ye,  shall  he  be  thought  worthy,  who  hath  trodden 
under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  hath  counted  the  blood  of  the 
covenant  wherewith  he  was  sanctified  an  unholy  thing,  and  hath 
done  despite  unto  the  Spirit  of  grace  ?" 


LECTURE  XVn. 


CHRISTIAN     GRACES. 

And  unto  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Thyatira  write ;  These  things  saith 
the  Son  of  God,  who  hath  his  eyes  lilte  unto  a  flame  of  fire,  and  his  feet  are 
like  fine  brass ;  I  know  thy  works,  and  charity,  and  service,  and  faith,  and 
thy  patience,  and  thy  works ;  and  the  last  to  be  more  than  the  first." — Ret. 
ii.  18,  19. 

The  letter  I  have  read  describes  tlie  duties,  the  dangers,  the 
excellences  of  the  Church  in  Thyatira.  The  address  is  intro- 
duced by  our  Lord,  in  a  character  suitable  to  the  body  of  the 
epistle.  He  proclaims  himself  to  be  the  Son  of  God ;  this  the 
epithet  he  assumes,  the  Jews  construed  to  be  a  prerogative  of 
Deity.  He  thus  demonstrates  himself  to  be,  what  we  know  he 
is,  the  first  and  the  last,  the  beginning  and  the  end,  the  Almighty. 
He  next  introduces  himself  under  the  characteristic  attribute  of 
Omniscience,  "  whose  eyes  are  like  a  flame  of  fire."  The  flame 
dissolves  the  diamond  into  charcoal,  subdues  the  strongest  things, 
penetrates  the  closest,  and  finds  access  where  every  other  element 
is  interdicted.  Our  Lord  has  "eyes  like  a  flame  of  fire,"  pene- 
trating all  thingS)  removing  every  obstruction,  consuming  every 
opposition,  and  searching  the  deepest  recesses  and  most  hidden 
corners  of  the  human  heart.  But  not  only  has  he  "  eyes  like  a 
flame  of  fire ;"  but  it  is  added  here,  "  he  had  feet  like  unto  fine 
brass."  The  oxen  which,  in  ancient  times,  were  used  for  tread- 
ing out  the  corn,  had  brass-shod  hoofs,  designed  to  enable  them 
more  efi'ectually  to  separate  the  wheat  from  the  chaff.  The  idea 
conveyed  in  this  hieroglyphic  symbol  is,  that  our  Lord  has  not 
only  an  omniscient  eye  to  see  all,  but  also  the  omnipotent  power 
to  distinguish,  to  divide,  to  separate  all.     Christ  the  Omniscient 

271 


272  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

One  !  wtat  a  solemn  thought !  In  close  contact  with  your  heart, 
the  very  holiest,  or  the  least  so  in  this  assembly,  is  the  omniscient 
eye  of  the  Son  of  God !  We  call  certain  thoughts  secret  thoughts; 
we  pronounce  some  feelings  to  be  hidden.  They  are  so,  relatively 
to  man ;  but  not  so  relatively  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Those 
latent  propensities  to  evil,  which  the  holiest  occasionally  feel  — 
those  folded  buds  that  develop  themselves  into  covetousness, 
pride,  ambition,  held  in  abeyance  for  a  time,  ripened  by  circum- 
stances into  terrible  maturity  —  Christ  sees  in  their  commence- 
ment and  in  their  consummation.  Those  unholy  thoughts  that 
spring  from  the  depths  of  our  hearts,  detected  by  none,  Christ's 
eye  clearly  and  distinctly  sees, — those  evil  habits,  the  remains  of 
which  we  yet  feel ;  for  it  is  the  penalty  of  late  conversion  that  we 
have  to  encounter  a  fiercer  struggle  with  the  evil  within  than  those 
have  who  are  early  converted  to  the  Lord.  The  young  who  have 
loved  the  Saviour,  gloried  in  his  cross,  and  held  communion  with 
him  from  their  earliest  days,  have  a  less  hard  battle  to  fight,  be- 
cause the  power  and  the  habit  of  grace  within  them  are  mightier 
and  stronger  by  time ;  but  those  who  have  been  turned  from  the 
evil  of  their  ways  late  in  life,  have  the  remains  of  past  habits, 
and  the  obduracy  of  inveterate  feelings  to  contend  with,  and  are 
destined  therefore  to  a  fiercer  and  intenser  conflict  with  evil 
within  than  those  who  in  their  earliest  years  were  brought  to  love 
the  Lord.  It  is  a  strong  reason  for  early  piety,  that  it  will 
always  be  followed  by  the  greatest  happiness  here :  the  field  of 
conflict  will  be  softest :  the  progress  will  be  easiest.  "  Remem- 
ber, therefore,  thy  Creator  in  the  days  of  thy  youth,  before  the 
evil  days  come,"  which  will  be  increased  and  aggravated,  by  late 
conversion,  "  when  thou  shalt  say,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  them." 
Those  habits,  then,  Christ  sees ;  those  schemes  of  evil  which  cir- 
cumstances repress — those  sympathies  which  our  condition  enables 
us  to  conceal  —  those  passions  which  are  not  developed,  because 
God's  Providence  restrains  them  —  Christ  sees  and  registers 
above.  All  those  crimes  committed  in  secret  —  those  deeds 
whose  brand  is  "  deeds  of  darkness"  —  those  sins  which  no  tri- 
bunal can  register,  no  jury  pronounce  on,  no  judge  condemn  — 
Christ  sees  and  enters  in  his  records.  How  dark  must  this  earth 
appear  to  the  bright,  burning,  holy  eye  that  rests  upon  it  per- 


CHRISTIAN  GRACES.  273 

petually!   how  sovereign  must  be  that  mercy  that  spares  tho 
purest  of  us  all  even, for  a  single  day! 

There  are  other  secret  thoughts  which  man  hides  from  man, 
but  which  Christ's  omniscient  eye  penetrates  and  sees  through. 
Man's  power  to  conceal  the  evil  that  is  within  him  is  far  gi'eater 
than  we  suppose.  God  meant  us  originally  to  be  the  exponents 
outwardly  of  what  we  inwardly  are ;  and  hence,  in  our  fallen 
condition,  the  blush  upon  the  face,  the  averted  eye,  the  tremulous 
hand,  are  designed  to  be  the  exponents  of  conscious  guilt.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  serene  brow,  the  bright  and  forward  eye,  the 
firm  and  unfaltering  footstep,  are  meant  to  be  the  characteri.stics 
and  the  indices  of  conscious  innocence;  but  man  so  trains  the 
eye,  that  it  looks  innocence  while  evil  is  behind  it;  and  he  so 
disciplines  the  muscles  of  the  face,  that  it  seems  the  picture  of 
all  that  is  beautiful,  whilst  it  is  but  the  blind  of  all  that  is  bad ; 
and  he  so  invigorates  his  footsteps  with  a  new  and  an  artificial 
elasticity,  that  when  it  ought  to  tremble  beneath  the  weight  of 
conscious  sin,  he  walks  as  if  the  universe  were  his  home,  and  the 
sun  and  moon  and  stars  looked  down  only  to  applaud  him.  So 
we  may  deceive  our  fellow-man  ;  but  the  eye  of  flame  sees  within, 
and  the  foot  of  brass  will  separate  between  the  wheat  and  the 
chaff".  Man  may  conceal  his  thoughts  from  many  an  eye  by  the 
refinement  and  polish  of  human  society.  Christianity  tries  to 
eradicate  the  evil  that  is  within  man,  but  fashionable  life  has  for 
its  great  effort  to  conceal,  to  cover,  and  to  make  it  appear  the 
very  reverse  of  what  it  is.  The  refinements  of  life  try  to  hide 
that  which  Christianity  seeks  to  extirpate.  What  is  this  but 
elegant  hypocrisy  ?  It  is  covering  guilt  with  smiles,  imquity  with 
circumlocution,  and  bad  morals  with  fascinating  and  attractive 
manners.  We  are  told  that  hypocrisy  is  peculiar  to  the  Church  : 
— the  Church  has  no  monopoly  of  it;  there  is  plenty  of  hypo- 
crisy in  the  world ;  wherever  there  is  the  most  exquisite  exterior, 
finish,  and  refinement,  it  is  often,  (though  not  always  —  God  for- 
bid that  it  should  be  so  !)  merely  the  effort  to  make  enmity  appear 
love,  to  make  misery  appear  happiness,  and  to  make  hatred  and 
jealousy  and  all  that  is  deformed  look  as  if  it  were  affection,  and 
sympathy,  and  love,  and  all  that  is  beautiful.  And  therefore, 
when  you  are  told  that  religion  makes  men  hypocrites,  you  an- 


274  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATmA. 

swer  that  fashion  also  makes  men  hypocrites ;  and  it  is  possible 
to  play  the  hypocrite  at  Almack's,  just  as  it  is  possible  to  play 
the  hypocrite  at  the  communion-table,  or  in  the  house  of  God. 
But  whatever  be  the  veil,  the  eye  of  flame  sees  through  it ;  what- 
ever be  the  exterior  covering,  the  eye  of  Christ's  omniscience 
penetrates  and  detects  it. 

Again ;  there  are  hidden  and  secret  sins  which  are  never 
brought  to  light,  and  which  are  restrained  by  circumstances,  and 
never  can  break  out ;  yet  are  these  sins  in  the  sight  of  the  omni- 
scient eye  of  Christ  Jesus.  Much  of  the  peace  and  quiet  of  the 
world  is  the  fioiit  of  circumstances,  not  the  fruit  of  principle. 
None  of  us  know  what  we  should  be  were  we  placed  in  a  different 
situation ;  and  if  we  are  Christians,  just  let  us  feel  that  the  spot 
in  which  we  now  are  placed,  whatever  be  its  diflBculties  or  its 
trials,  is  the  very  spot  where  we  are  called  upon  to  discharge  the 
duty  that  devolves  upon  us,  and  where  we  are  most  likely  to 
escape  the  temptations  to  which  we  should  otherwise  be  exposed. 
Have  you  then,  my  dear  friends,  congratulated  yourselves  that 
your  sins  are  secret  and  hidden  from  the  eye  of  others  ?  Re- 
member that  they  are  manifest  to  the  omniscient  eye  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  What  an  awful  scene  will  be  displayed  at  the  day 
of  judgment !  There  is  not  in  this  assembly  one — not  even  the 
purest  being  present — who  could  consent  that  the  thoughts  of  his 
heart  should  be  laid  bare  and  written  in  illuminated  characters 
in  the  presence  of  this  congregation.  And  yet  a  day  comes  when 
all  men's  hearts  shall  be  laid  open;  and  you  shall,  at  the  judg- 
ment-seat, see  men's  thoughts  and  men's  passions  just  as  clearly 
as  you  now  see  men's  deeds,  and  as  distinctly  as  you  hear  men's 
words.  What  a  spectacle  will  there  be !  But  let  us  not  dwell 
upon  it,  for  well  we  may  conceive  how  many,  when  they  anticipate 
that  terrible  ordeal,  will  cry  to  the  mountains  that  they  may  cover 
them,  and  to  the  hills  that  they  may  conceal  them.  But,  blessed 
be  God,  it  is  not  the  judgment  day  yet ;  this  is  the  day  of  grace, 
and  there  is  not  a  heart,  though  blackened  with  the  greatest  sins, 
which  may  not  this  instant  be  made  white  like  snow,  through  the 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ  that  cleanseth  from  all  sin. 

But  having  thus  noticed  these  two  characteristics,  the  foot  of 
brass,  and  the  omniscient  eye  of  a  holy  Saviour,  let  me  notice  the 


CHRISTIAN  GRACES.  275 

commendation  pronounced  upon  the  Church  of  Thyatira,  as  that 
commendation  is  recorded  in  ver.  19 :  "I  know  thy  works,  and 
charity,  and  service,  and  faith,  and  thy  patience,  and  thy  works ; 
and  the  last  to  be  more  than  the  first."  In  every  Church  of  the 
seven  you  will  perceive  there  is  a  distinction  manifest  between 
'the  good  that  are  in  it  and  the  depraved  multitudes  in  the  midst 
of  which  these  good  ones  are  found.  Christ  always  sees  them 
that  are  his,  whatever  be  the  circumstances  in  which  they  are 
placed.  There  never  has  been  a  phasis  of  the  visible  Church  so 
utterly  depraved  that  there  are  not  in  the  midst  of  it  some  that 
sympathise  with  Christ,  and  that  si,2;h  and  cry  because  of  the 
abominations  around  them.  We  shall  find  amid  the  alpine  peaks 
some  beautiful  snowdrop  that  the  frosts  have  not  nipped ;  and  in 
the  bosom  of  the  avalanche  some  lovely  crocus  that  the  snows 
have  not  buried.  We  shall  find  amid  the  bleakest  desert,  here 
and  there  some  fair  oasis;  in  the  midst  of  Sodom,  a  Lot;  and  in 
the  Church  of  Rome  many  of  those  people  of  God  who  are  sum- 
moned to  come  out  of  her  lest  they  partake  of  her  sins,  and  re- 
ceive, as  the  consequence  of  them,  of  her  plagues. 

In  the  next  place,  Christ  not  only  distinguishes  between  them 
that  are  his  and  them  that  are  not ;  but  he  also  begins  by  com- 
mending the  little  flock,  before  he  proceeds  to  condemn  the  large 
retinue  of  visible  professors.  He  pronounces  an  eulogium  on  the 
one  before  he  administers  a  rebuke  to  the  other.  He  is  anxious 
that  the  former  should  be  commended  for  whatever  was  good  in 
them,  before  the  others  should  be  warned  or  punished  according 
to  their  deserts.  He  is  anxious  that  those  little  ones  should 
know  that  those  judgments  and  troubles  that  overcome  the  guilty 
are  only  meant  in  mercy  to  them ;  and  that  the  cloud  that  grows 
so  black,  and  that  rolls  onward  so  rapidly,  fraught  with  judgment 
to  a  world  that  disowns  its  Lord,  is  the  vehicle  of  benediction 
and  of  mercy  to  them  that  acknowledge  and  love  him ;  and  there- 
fore he  proceeds  to  state  the  course  which  he  has  noticed,  and 
which  he  applauds.  "  I  know  thy  works ;"  these  works  are  enu- 
merated in  the  epistle  to  the  Galatians,  where  the  apostle  tells 
us  that  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  "  love,  joy,  peace,  faith,  hope, 
charity,  brotherly  kindness."  Christ  says,  "I  know  thy  works;" 
nothinjc  can  conceal  from  him  the  fruit  which  his  love  has  ma- 


276  THE  CHURCH  OF  THyATIRA.  *  . 

tured,  and  his  smile  has  made  fragrant.  Those  deeds  doge  in 
secrecy  and  silence  —  those  acts  performed  by  the  right  hand 
which  the  left  hand  does  not  know — that  cup  of  cold  water  given 
to  a  disciple  in  the  name  of  a  disciple's  Lord  —  those  desires  to 
do  good  when  the  hand  had  nothing  to  contribute  as  the  expres- 
sion of  the  feeling  that  flowed  through  and  animated  and  enriched 
the  heart — Christ  sees,  and  notices,  and  registers;  and  when  you 
stand  before  the  great  white  throne,  he  will  say  to  you,  "  I  was 
hungry,  and  ye  fed  me  :  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me :  sick  and  in 
prison,  and  ye  visited  me ;  for  in  that  ye  did  it  unto  one  of  the 
least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  did  it  unto  me."  "  I  know  your 
works,  and  will  reward  you." 

But  not  only  does  he  describe  her  tcorhs  as  known  to  him,  but  also 
her  charity.  This  word  "  charity"  is  unfortunately  so  translated. 
It  has  come,  in  the  modern  acceptance  to  denote  "liberality;" 
but  it  is  the  translation  of  the  word  ayar^,  which  means  "  love ;" 
and  Corinthians  xiii.  contains  the  best  definition  of  its  meaning, 
where  the  apostle  says,  "  Though  I  speak  with  the  tongues  of 
men  and  of  angels,  and  have  not  charity,  I  am  become  as  sound- 
ing brass,  or  a  tinkling  cymbal.  And  though  I  have  the  gift  of 
prophecy^  and  understand  all  mysteries,  and  all  knowledge ;  and 
though  I  have  all  faith,  so  that  I  could  remove  mountains,  and 
have  not  charity,  I  am  nothing.  And  though  I  bestow  all  my 
goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  though  I  give  my  body  to  be  burned, 
and  have  not  charity,  it  profiteth  me  nothing.  Charity  suffereth 
long,  and  is  kind;  charity  envieth  not;  charity  vaunteth  not 
itself,  is  not  puffed  up ;" — and  so  on  throughout  the  whole  of 
that  beautiful  and  eloquent  chapter.  Love  to  the  Saviour  is  the 
essence  of  Christianity;  love  is  the  solvent  of  all  wrongs,  the 
cement  of  all  society ;  it  is  the  last  flower  of  paradise  that  has 
survived  the  fall,  and  it  is  the  first  flower  of  paradise  regained, 
planted  in  the  heart  as  an  earnest  of  its  advent;  it  blooms  in 
many  a  lonely  nook,  and  beautifies  by  its  presence  the  heart  of 
many  a  poor  and  obscure  follower  of  the  Lord.  Do  you  love  the 
Saviour  ?  is  only  the  synonyme  for.  Are  you  a  Christian  ?  He 
that  has  no  love  to  Christ — have  what  he  may  besides — is  desti- 
tute of  that  which  is  the  very  core  and  substance  and  essence  of 
the  Gospel.     If  so,  it  is  important  to  ask,  if  we  love  him  ?  and 


CHEISTIAN  GRACES.  277 

he  that  loves  the  Saviour,  he  that  has  that  love  which  Chrisft  says 
"  I  know,  approve,  and  take  cognisance  of,"  in  the  first  place 
delights  to  imitate  and  follow  Christ;  he  prefers  affliction  with 
the  people  of  God  to  the  pleasures  of  sin  that  are  but  for  a  season. 
He  would  rather  belong  to  the  little  sequestered  church  or  chapel 
where  Christ  is  preached  in  all  his  glory,  than  be  the  daily  wor- 
shipper in  a  magnificent  cathedral,  which  is  the  mausoleum  in 
which  Christ  is  buried,  not  a  living  temple  in  which  his  Name  is 
audibly  and  musically  proclaimed.  He  who  has  love  to  Christ 
will  follow  him  wherever  be  goes:  the  language  of  his  creed  will 
be,  '^  Where  thou  gocst,  my  Lord,  I  will  go ;  where  thou  lodgcst, 
I  will  lodge ;  thy  people,  however  mean,  shall  be  my  people,  and 
thy  God,  my  God."  If  we  love  the  Saviour,  the  cross  of  Christ 
will  be  dearer  to  us  than  the  crown  of  Caesar ;  and  any  suffering 
will  be  sweet  rather  than  the  sacrifice  of  what  we  believe  to  be 
his  mind  and  will.  The  path  that  we  tread,  however  rough,  will 
feel  smooth  to  him,  and  a  wreath  of  thorns  around  his  brow  will 
be  dearer  than  the  brightest  diadem ;  the  commandments  of  Christ, 
however  many,  will  not  be  grievous  to  him ;  and  the  cross  of 
Christ,  however  heavy,  will  seem  light  to  him.  Love  smoothes 
the  way,  illuminates  the  cloud,  and  kindles  in  the  midst  of  the 
darkest  night  the  bright  beams  that  are  the  dawn  of  a  sun  of 
glory  that  shall  know  no  setting.  To  love  the  Saviour  is  to  love 
all  that  the  Saviour  loves,  alike  the  promise,  the  precept,  the 
prophecy,  the  doctrine ;  all  are  loved  because  Christ  is  the  sub- 
stance of  all,  and  these  all  bear  his  name  and  his.  imprimatur. 

If  we  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  next  place,  we  shall 
sympathise  with  the  cause  of  Christ,  i.  e.  wherever  it  prospers 
we  shall  rejoice :  when  we  hear  of  its  retrogression,  if  that  be 
possible,  we  shall  mourn.  "  Mine  eyes,"  says  the  Psalmist,  "  run 
down  with  tears,  because  men  keep  not  thy  law."  "  The  reproach 
of  them  that  reproached  thee,"  he  says  again,  "fell  on  me." 
Moses  was  dumb  in  his  own  cause,  but  he  was  eloquent  for  the 
honour  of  his  Lord :  and  if  we  love  the  Saviour,  we  shall  rejoice 
rather  to  hear  of  the  ebbs  and  flows  of  his  glorious  kingdom, 
than  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  mightiest  dynasties  of  Europe ; 
and  amid  the  crash  of  dissolving  thrones,  and  amid  the  echoes, 
wafted  by  the  wind,  of  brokcn-up  and  shattered  empires,  we 

24 


278  THE  CHURCH  OP  THYATIRA. 

shall  hear  a  sound  the  most  musical  of  all  in  a  believer's  ear : 
'*The  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our 
Lord  and  of  his  Christ." 

If  we  love  the  Saviour,  we  shall  often  speak  of  him.  "  Out 
of  the  abundance  of  the  heart,  the  mouth  speaketh."  "  Come, 
all  ye  that  fear  God,"  says  the  Psalmist,  "  and  I  will  tell  you  what 
he  hath  done  for  my  soul."  The  woman  of  Samaria  no  sooner 
knew  the  Saviour,  than  she  ran  and  told  the  townspeople,  saying, 
**  Come,  see  a  man  that  told  me  all  that  ever  I  did :  is  not  this 
the  Christ  ?"  And  we  are  told,  too,  of  God's  people,  in  the  last 
days,  "  They  that  feared  the  Lord  spake  often  one  to  another : 
and  the  Lord  hearkened  and  heard  it,  and  a  book  of  remembrance 
was  written  before  him  for  them  that  feared  the  Lord,  and  that 
thought  upon  his  name.  And  they  shall  be  mine,  saith  the  Lord 
of  Hosts,  in  that  day  when  I  make  up  my  jewels;  and  I  will 
spare  them,  as  a  man  spareth  his  own  son  that  serveth  him." 

And  let  me  ask  then,  fathers,  mothers,  sisters,  brothers,  friends, 
acquaintances,  relatives.  Do  you  ever  speak  of  the  Gospel,  the 
claims  of  the  soul,  the  excellency  of  the  Saviour,  the  need  of 
salvation,  to  those  with  whom  you  have  intercourse  ?  It  is  im- 
possible that  grace  should  be  supreme  within  you,  and  yet  that 
your  lips  should  be  always  dumb  upon  the  subject.  I  do  not  say 
that  in  giving  out  your  goods  you  should  always  enclose  a  tract. 
I  do  not  say  that  in  selling  things  over  the  counter,  you  should 
always  quote  a  text.  I  do  not  say  that  in  all  places  and  under 
all  circumstances  you  should  say,  "  I  am  a  Christian  j"  but  if  you 
are  a  child  of  God,  or  if  the  love  of  the  Saviour  has  a  place  in 
your  heart,  and  nestles  there  as  •  something  dearest  and  most 
beloved,  it  will  give  a  quiet,  subdued,  and  consistent  tone  to  all 
you  say  and  think  and  do,  which  will  constrain  the  world  to  say 
there  is  an  element  within  you  which  they  do  not  possess,  and 
show  itself  in  your  harmonious  and  consistent  walk.  The  oppor- 
tunity may  occur  in  your  contact  with  mankind,  with  the  highest 
and  the  lowest,  with  the  richest  and  the  poorest,  when  a  little 
quiet  word  may  be  dropped,  which  may  be  the  turning  point  of  a 
soul's  salvation ;  when  a  thought  may  be  insinuated,  which  shall 
be  a  savour  of  life  unto  life ;  when  a  memento  may  be  dropped, 
*hat  shall  be  a  living  seed  deposited  in  a  prepared  heart,  and 


CHRISTIAN  GRACES.  -  279 

stall  germinate  and  bring  forth,  in  some  thirty,  in  some  sixty, 
and  in  some  an  hundred  fold.  Too  often  the  congregation  in  a 
Church  think  that  the  minister  is  to  do  all  the  work  as  their 
proxy,  and  that  they  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  listen,  or  to  drop 
a  sovereign  into  the  plate  when  they  are  called  upon  by  the 
preacher  to  aid  some  Christian  work,  and  that  then  their  mis- 
sionary responsibility  and  labour  is  fulfilled.  When  you  give  a 
sovereign,  or  ten  sovereigns  to  the  missionary  cause,  that  is  the 
least  you  can  do.  Each  man  in  his  home,  in  his  warehouse,  in 
the  world,  ought  to  be  a  missionary;  and  if  you  are  Christians, 
it  is  impossible  that  you  can  hide  it ;  its  irrepressible  beams  will 
break  out  at  a  thousand  crevices,  even  if  you  try  to  hide  it,  if 
you  are  the  children  of  God,  and  if  Christ  has  transformed  you 
into  his  own  glorious  and  blessed  likeness. 

If  you  have  this  love,  you  will  find  it  growing  every  day  in 
depth  and  in  fervour ;  and  this  sort  is  the  true  progress  of  a 
Christian.  Progress  is  an  inner  work,  not  an  outer  one.  It  is 
not  something  put  on  from  without,  but  it  is  a  vital  power  that 
gathers  strength  and  intensity  every  day,  until  the  tiny  spark 
that  trembled  on  the  very  verge  of  extinction  grows  in  lustre  and 
in  splendour,  and  mingles  in  its  full  time  with  the  glories  of 
happy  and  everlasting  day. 

Let  me  ask  you,  do  you  love  Christ  ?  This  love  may  be  chiefly 
a  principle  in  one  man,  and  chiefly  a  passion  in  another  man  :  it 
partakes  of  the  nature  of  both ;  and  though  it  be  quite  true  that 
the  feeling  of  this  love  may  not  always  be  so  predominant  that 
you  are  conscious  of  it,  yet,  when  the  crisis  comes  when  its  reality 
will  be  tested,  it  will  be  shown  whether  you  love  Christ  or  not : — 
let  his  Name  be  dishonoured  by  the  remark  of  one  that  is  near 
you,  and  you  will  instantly  vindicate  that  Name ;  let  a  profane 
jest  be  uttered  by  one  into  whose  society  you  are  introduced, 
you  will  kindly  and  courteously,  but  faithfully,  warn  him  that  he 
is  doing  wrong;  let  dereliction  of  duty  be  detected  in  a  brother, 
and,  if  you  are  a  Christian,  with  love  to  Christ  in  your  heart, 
and  sympathy  with  Christ  in  your  soul,  you  will  instantly  inter- 
pose. The  present  day  is  not  a  time  in  which  Christians  are 
called  upon  to  die  as  martyrs,  but  it  is  a  day  in  which  Christians 
are  called  upon  to  live  as  Christians.     It  requires,  I  solemnly 


280  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

believe,  more  grace  to  live  religiously  than  it  does  to  die  reli- 
giously. It  requires  the  greatest  grace  to  enable  a  man  to  be 
bold  for  Christ  when  all  around  are  opposed  to  him ;  to  avow  that 
he  is  a  Christian,  when  the  company  in  which  he  is  placed  make 
Christianity  a  joke. 

And  Christ  knows  not  only  his  servants'  love,  but  also  their 
"  service."  This  word  "  service "  ought  to  be  translated, 
"  ministry."  It  denotes  that  this  love  in  their  hearts  developes 
itself  in  ministry  to  others.  Wherever,  then,  there  is  a  congre- 
gation in  the  hearts  of  whose  people  is  love  to  Christ,  that  con- 
gregation will  be  characterised  by  all  Christian  service.  In  their 
neighbourhood  you  will  have  a  sick-visiting  society,  and  schools 
for  the  children  of  the  poor  whom  their  parents  cannot  educate ; 
andj  as  I  told  you  in  the  morning,  that  husband  and  wife  who 
have  no  children  of  their  own  have  a  special  call  upon  them  to 
take  the  children  of  the  poor  and  educate  them  :  and  if  you  know 
that  those  around  you  are  ignorant  of  the  Gospel,  you  will  send 
the  Sci"ipture  Reader  and  the  Ti*act  distributor  among  them.  In 
fine,  whatever  be  the  work  that  requires  to  be  done  for  God's 
glory  and  for  the  good  of  man,  that,  if  there  be  love  to  Christ  in 
your  hearts,  you  will  rejoice  to  do.  It  matters  not  whether  you 
be  a  day-labourer  or  a  British  peer ;  it  matters  not  whether  you 
are  learned  or  illiterate ;  the  light  of  truth  that  is  within  you 
will  appear  in  service  without,  and  men  will  know,  by  what  you 
silently  do,  not  by  what  you  loudly  utter,  the  love  of  Christ  that 
is  in  your  heart,  and  the  attachment  to  him  which  is  the  actuating 
principle  of  your  lives. 

Next,  our  Lord  says  that  he  has  noticed  the  "  faith  "  of  this 
Church  :  "  I  know  thy  love,  and  thy  service,  and  thy  faith." 
Throughout  the  Scripture  faith  is  spoken  of  as  the  most  precious 
blessing,  and  as  the  mother  of  all  the  graces  of  the  Christian 
character.  "  Faith  worketh  by  love ;"  "  overcometh  the  world;" 
'"purifieth  the  heart;"  "justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with 
God ;"  and  throughout  the  Scripture  it  is  constantly  spoken  of 
as  the  peculiar  grace  which  knits  the  believer  to  the  believer's 
Lord.  Some  persons  have  said  that  it  seems  a  severe  thing,  and 
a  thing  which  they  do  not  like,  that  one  man  should  be  con- 
demned for  not  believing,  and  that  another  man  should  be  saved 


'  "  CHRISTIAN  GRACES.  281 

for  believing.  If  you  consider  the  true  meaning  of  faith ^t* confi- 
dence, you  will  see  that  there  is  no  such  severity  in  this  at  all. 
Take  away  confidence  from  a  bank,  and  that  bank  will  be  in 
fragments  to-morrow ;  take  away  confidence  from  the  commerce 
of  a  land,  and  it  will  instantly  go  to  ruin ;  and  if  this  want  of  # 
confidence  be  so  destructive  in  things  human,  is  it  unnatural  to 
suppose  that  want  of  confidence  in  God  will  be  utter  ruin  in 
things  that  are  eternal  ?  Want  of  faith,  therefore,  is  want  of 
confidence  in  God.  When  Christ  says,  "  I  know  thy  faith,"  it 
is  as  though  he  said,  "  I  know  that  it  trusts  me  in  the  storm ;  I 
know  that  it  leans  upon  me  in  difiiculty ;  I  know  that  it  sees  me 
in  the  darkest  night,  and  says,  '  Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I 
trust  in  him.'  " 

I  have  given  you  the  characteristics  of  love :  let  me  quote 
briefly  the  principal  characteristics  of  faith.  The  first  character- 
istic  of  it  is,  that  faith  reveals  things  unseen.  That  man  who 
has  no  faith,  who  has  merely  sense  to  guide  him,  sees  nothing 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  this  world;  he  sees  merely  money, 
and  rank,  and  riches,  and  honour,  and  power;  and  these  things 
fill  his  eye,  absorb  his  affections,  occupy  all  his  sympathies; 
but  that  man  who  has  faith,  sees  beyond  this  world.  Faith 
stretches  its  pinions  and  ascends  to  realms  beyond  the  stars, 
and  brings  back  the  news  to  this  earth,  —  I  have  seen  the 
everlasting  God,  the  glorious  Saviour,  the  blessed  Comforter 
and  Sanctifier.  "  Faith  is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for, 
the  evidence  of  things  not  seen ;"  faith  brings  near  things  that 
are  otherwise  remote.  The  believer  and  the  unbeliever  look 
through  the  same  telescope;  but  they  look  from  the  opposite 
ends  of  it.  The  one  looks  at  the  right  end,  and  sees  distant 
things  near ;  the  other  looks  at  the  other  end,  and  sees  near 
things  remote.  Faith,  in  a  believer,  brings  all  things  near  to 
him ;  God  near  to  him,  Jesus  near  to  him,  the  Holy  Spirit  near 
to  him,  eternity  near,  the  judgment-seat  near,  heaven  near — all 
that  is  mighty,  precious,  eternal,  nearer  to  him  —  nearer,  infi- 
nitely, than  the  neighbor  that  is  next  to  him,  or  the  circumstances 
in  which  he  lives.  Another  feature  of  faith  is,  that  it  not  only 
brings  distant  things  near,  but  it  writes  the  monosyllable  my  upon 
the  best  and  brightest  things  that  are  beyond  the  skies.     It  can 

24  « 


J^'^ 


282  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 


say,  " My  Lord,"  " my  Saviour,  "my  God,"  "my  King,"  "my 
Shepherd,"  "  my  all  and  in  all."  And  in  the  next  place,  faith 
sees  in  Jesus  greater  excellences  than  in  all  besides.  Moses  could 
say,  by  faith,  "  I  count  the  reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches  than 
fithe  treasures  of  Egypt."  You  will  see  this  influence  of  faith  in 
the  instance  of  St.  Matthew :  Christ  found  Matthew  at  the  re- 
ceipt of  custom — a  most  lucrative  situation ;  he  said  to  him.  Fol- 
low me.  Sense  answered.  What !  Matthew,  leave  five  hundred 
a-year,  and  follow  one  who  was  just  telling  us,  a  moment  ago,  the 
foxes  have  holes,  and  the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests,  but  the  Son 
of  man  hath  not  where  to  lay  his  head  ?  But  faith  was  predomi- 
nant ;  and  when  Christ  said  "  Follow,"  faith  responded,  from  the 
depths  of  his  heart,  "  I  will ;"  and  he  rose  up  and  followed  Jesus. 
You  have  another  instance  of  the  working  of  faith  in  the  case  of 
Zacchseus;  he  came  down  the  moment  that  Christ  called  him, 
and  he  told  Christ,  that  from  that  instant  he  gave  half  of  his 
goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  if  he  had  wronged  or  defrauded  any 
man  he  would  restore  him  four-fold.  Suppose  that  Zacchjcus  was 
worth  500?. ;  he  says,  I  give  half  to  the  poor, — that  was  250?. ; 
and  suppose  he  had  defrauded  any  one  of  50?.,  he  restored  him 
four-fold,  or  200?. :  thus,  faith  immediately  gave  up  450?.,  or 
nine-tenths  of  his  income,  at  the  call  of  duty :  he  preferred  50?, 
with  Christ  to  500?.  with  the  world  that  was  opposed  to  Christ. 
Again ;  faith  enables  the  believer  to  tread  down  and  to  triumph 
over  all  difficulties.  Sense  says,  "  My  sins  are  like  a  great  moun- 
tain :"  faith  says,  "  But  God's  mercies  are  like  the  great  deep." 
Sense  says,  "  I  know  not  the  way  to  heaven ;"  but  faith  reads, 
"  I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life."  Another  very  remark- 
able instance  is  cited  in  Hebrews  xi. — the  case  of  Noah.  God 
said  to  Noah,  "  I  am  about  to  destroy  the  world ;  now  prepare 
an  ark  for  the  saving  of  thyself  and  thy  household."  Had  Noah 
been  guided  by  sense,  he  would  have  replied,  "  0  Lord,  I  am  no 
ship-carpenter ;  I  never  built  a  ship  in  my  life ;  besides,  I  was 
never  brought  up  as  a  sailor  j  and  I  have  no  compass  j  my  vessel 
will  be  wrecked  upon  the  rocks,  or  it  will  founder  in  the  storm  : 
if  I  admit  all  these  animals  into  the  ark,  they  will  devour  each 
other,  and  devour  me  in  my  turn ;  it  is  utterly  impossible  for  me, 
either  to  make  or  manage  the  vessel  which  Thou  bast  commanded 


■       CHRISTIAN  GRACES.  283 

mc  to  make.  So  sense  argued :  faith,  however  was  triumphant; 
and  hence  the  Spirit  of  God  has  recorded  that  "  by  faith,  Noah, 
warned  of  God  of  things  not  seen,  being  moved  with  fear,  pre- 
pared an  ark  for  the  saving  of  himself  and  all  his  house." 

And  I  know  also,  it  is  added,  "  thy  patience."  We  have 
much  need  of  patience  in  our  passage  through  this  world. 
"  Bring  forth  fruit  with  patience,"  says  the  apostle :  patient  in 
well  doing :"  "  patient  waiting  for  Christ."  And  the  greatest 
evidence  of  patience  is  when  you  can  drink  the  bitter  cup,  bow 
your  head  beneath  the  beating  storm,  lie  passive  in  the  hand  of 
Christ,  and  say  quietly  and  submissively,  "  Father,  not  as  I  will, 
but  as  Thou  wilt." 

And  then  the  last  good  feature  of  this  Church  is,  that  "the 
last  works  are  more  than  the  first,"  i.  e.  progress  in  grace ;  the 
progress  of  the  believer  in  all  the  excellences  mentioned.  _ 

I  have  endeavoured  to  give  an  outline  of  the  good  features  in 
this  Church.  I  must  reserve  the  analysis  of  the  type  that  is  here 
given,  namely,  the  woman  Jezebel,  the  true  type  of  the  Romish 
apostasy,  for  next  Lord's-day  evening.  In  the  meantime  allow 
me  to  notice  the  peculiar  characteristic  of  this  Church,  and  of 
every  true  Church — namely,  progress — ''  the  last  to  be  more  than 
the  first."  Are  you,  I  ask,  making  progress  in  Christian  character  ? 
are  you  advancing  in  faith,  in  love,  in  patience,  in  meekness,  in 
good  works,  in  the  service  of  the  Lord  ?  In  order  to  make  progress 
in  the  life  that  must  soon  die,  we  must  have  right  food :  no  man 
will  grow  in  health  and  strength  without  suitable  nourishment. 
It  is  so  in  spiritual  life :  the  soul  needs  to  have  manna — God's 
Word,  the  preaching  of  his  Gospel,  the  knowledge  of  a  Saviour, 
to  enable  him  to  grow,  just  as  truly  as  the  body  needs  its  nutri- 
ment. The  body  needs  pure  air  to  enable  it  to  have  health ;  the 
soul  needs  the  same.  The  moral  air  of  society  is  tainted,  but 
there  are  some  spots  in  society  whose  atmosphere  is  purer  than  it 
is  in  others.  There  are  some  homes  whose  atmosphere  is  all  cor- 
ruption ;  there  are  other  homes  whose  roofs  are  like  the  wings  of 
the  overshadowing  cherubim  —  whose  hearts  are  like  holy  altars, 
whose  air  is  purity,  whose  communion  is  happiness  and  loyalty 
and  love.  There  you  can  breathe  the  pure  air,  and  receive  the 
true  nutriment. 


284  THE  CHURCH  OP  THYATIRA. 

And  in  the  next  place  I  may  notice,  that  exercise  is  necessary 
to  the  health  of  the  body,  and  the  proper  development  of  its  pro- 
gress. Do  you  exercise  these  graces  ?  do  you  exercise  faith,  ser- 
vice, patience,  love  ?  do  you  give  to  the  cause  of  Christ  ?  do  you 
respond  to  the  claims  of  the  Gospel  ?  Likewise,  if  you  are  grow- 
ing in  grace,  and  if  your  last  works  are  more  than  your  first,  you 
are  gathering  views  of  your  ownselves  more  humbling  every  day. 
He  that  learns  to-day  that  he  is  far  more  sinful  than  he  believed 
yesterday,  is  making  progress  in  the  hidden  life :  he  who  has, 
not  increasing  wickedness,  but  an  increasing  sense  of  his  wicked- 
ness, is  growing  in  true  grace.  The  apostle  Paul,  when  he  began 
the  hidden  life,  said,  "  I  am  not  worthy  to  be  called  an  apostle  :" 
as  he  grew  in  the  hidden  life,  he  said,  "  I  am  the  least  of  all 
saints;"  and  when  his  hidden  life  had  reached  its  highest  per- 
fection, his  statement  of  himself  was,  "  I  am  the  chiefest  of 
sinners." 

Let  us  grow, — let  us  thus  make  progress;  so  that  when  we 
come  to  lie  down  on  the  last  bed,  and  to  take  a  retrospect  of  our 
past  biography,  we  may  have  some  humble  hope,  not  as  a  ground 
of  merit,  but  as  an  evidence  of  grace,  that  our  last  faith,  our  last 
patience,  our  last  love,  our  last  service,  our  last  works,  have  been 
greater  and  better  than  the  first. 


LECTUKE  XVIII. 

CONSUMPTION   OP  BABYLON. 

"  Notwithstanding  I  have  a  few  things  against  thee,  because  thou  sufFerest 
that  woman  Jezebel,  which  calleth  herself  a  prophetess,  to  teach  and  to  seduce 
my  servants  to  commit  fornication,  and  to  eat  things  sacrificed  unto  idols." — 
Bkt.  ii.  20.  , 

I  EXPLAINED  in  the  course  of  my  reflections  on  tte  former 
part  of  this  passage  last  Lord's-day  evening,  that  I  regarded  the 
name  of  Jezebel  as  here  employed  in  its  typical  and  figurative 
sense ;  as,  in  short,  a  most  expressive  exponent  or  representative 
of  that  great  ecclesiastical  system,  the  ruin  and  the  doom  of  which 
is  so  graphically  delineated  in  the  18th  chapter  of  Revelation. 
I  cannot  at  present  spare  time  to  enumerate  the  points  of  coinci- 
dence ;  these  I  must  defer,  as  I  am  anxious  to  submit  to  you  what 
I  conceive  to  be  the  highest  possible  presumptive  evidence  that 
the  commencement  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  18th  chapter  of  the 
Apocalypse  is  now  visible.  I  do  not  say  that  all  has  yet  hap- 
pened which  is  denounced  in  that  chapter — far  from  it;  but  I 
believe  that  what  may  be  called  "  the  rehearsal"  of  these  judg- 
ments is  already  begun.  I  believe,  from  the  period  we  occupy  in 
prophecy,  and  from  the  points  of  contact,  between  the  facts  and 
phenomena  which  are  now  occurring  on  the  broad  face  of  Europe, 
from  Vienna  to  Rorr.e,  and  the  striking  and  vivid  apocalyptic 
predictions  which  I  have  read  in  the  18th  chapter,  that  it  is  all 
but  impossible  to  avoid  coming  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  knell 
of  the  doom  of  Babylon  has  sounded  at  Rome,  and  vibrates 
through  the  air  to  the  utmost  circumference  of  the  Papal 
dominions. 

You  will  recollect,  that  I  have  tried  to  show  that  there  is  the 
strongest  evidence,  that  we  are  now  placed  at  the  commencement 

285 


286  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

of  the  outpouring  of  the  seventh  vial,  and  amid  the  last  dregs 
of  the  sixth.*  You  will  recollect  my  showing  you,  several  months 
ago,  that,  early  in  the  period  comprised  under  the  seventh  vial, 
Great  Babylon,  (as  stated  Rev.  xvi.)  "  comes  into  remembrance 
before  God,  to  give  unto  her  the  cup  of  the  wine  of  the  fierceness 
of  his  wrath."  There  is  given  the  summary  in  brief,  under  the 
seventh  vial,  of  the  facts  recorded  at  length  and  in  detail  in 
chap,  xviii.,  which  is  the  fulfilment  of  it.  First,  the  air  was  to 
be  tainted,  physically  and  morally ;  the  proofs  of  this  visitation 
are  too  familiar  to  us  all :  next,  there  were  to  be  "voices  and 
thunders  and  lightnings ;"  of  these  I  gave  you  specimens  on  a 
previous  occasion  :  there  was  to  be  "  a  great  earthquake  j"  this 
commenced  at  Paris,  and,  melancholy  to  say,  is  not  likely  soon  to 
conclude  there.  The  great  city  is  next  to  be  divided  into  three 
parts — that  is,  Europe  divided  into  three  distinct  nationalities; 
or,  as  a  daily  newspaper,  which  does  not  pretend  to  be  guided  by 
any  apocalyptical  views,  recently  stated,  "  we  shall  have  all  Europe 
by-and-by  divided  into  three  great  sections."  Nationality  is  the 
grand  rallying  cry:  "Italy,  for  the  Italians;"  "Germany,  in  all 
its  divisions,  for  the  Germans;"  "  Hungary,  for  the  Hungarians ;" 
"  France,  for  all  the  European  Latin  nations ;"  and  every  appear- 
ance of  this  tripartite  division  of  Europe  beginning  to  take  place. 
It  is  next  stated,  that  a  great  hail  shall  come  from  the  north. 
The  Emperor  of  Russia,  probably  indicated  here,  seems  as  if  he 
felt,  if  we  may  judge  from  his  recent  words  and  deeds,  that  he 
was  called  upon  to  fulfil  prophecy,  and  to  be  what  is  here  pre- 
dicted, "  the  great  hail  from  the  north,"  to  scourge  the  guilty 
nations  of  the  earth. 

Some  object  to  any  remarks  on  these  subjects  at  all.  I  cannot 
help  it.  I  must  fulfil  my  mission.  Both  ministers  and  people 
ought  to  speak  out  their  convictions ;  and  they  ought  to  speak 
upon  points  which  strike  their  minds  as  specially  important  and 
most  practically  useful.  Is  it  not  practically  important  to  show 
that  the  finger  that  wrote  the  predictions  in  the  Apocalypse  is 
busy  writing,  with  no  hieroglyphic  symbols,  the  fulfilment  of 
them  in  broad  Europe?     If  we  read  God  in  prophecy,  is  it  not 

*  See  Apocalyptic  Sketches,  1st  and  2d  series. 


CONSUMPTION  OF  BABYLON.  287 

useful  also  to  read  God  in  history  ?  Again ;  what  the  Holy  Spirit 
has  described  thus  minutely  and  at  so  great  length,  it  is  not  for 
us  to  assert  to  be  void  of  practical  utility,  and  productive  of  no 
instruction  to  us.  And  thirdly,  if  angels  in  heaven,  and  saints 
before  the  throne,  are  called  upon  to  rejoice  because  Babylon  is 
fallen,  is  it  not  a  fit  subject  for  our  joy  too,  that  so  great  an  ob- 
struction to  the  spread  of  the  gospel  is  about  to  be  removed  ? 
Ought  not  Christians  to  sympathize  with  the  joy  of  the  saints  in 
glory  ?  What  excites  the  joy  of  heaven  should  not  surely  call 
forth  paltry  objections  and  remonstrances  on  our  part. 

Now  I  am  about  to  state  facts  this  evening,  and  I  wish  you  to 
keep  in  mind,  that  the  18th  chapter,  which  I  have  read,  is  the 
statement  of  what  occurs  under  the  seventh  vial.  I  am  able  to 
speak  with  greater  accuracy  upon  these  points,  because,  during 
last  week,  I  have  be^  introduced  to  a  highly  intelligent  lady, 
who  has  just  escaped  from  Rome,  (having  been  only  ten  days  out 
of  it,)  who  has  given  me  a  full  statement  of  her  personal  know- 
ledge of  much  that  has  taken  place  in  that  city  during  the  last 
few  months.  I  shall  lay  before  you,  this  evening,  some  of  the 
facts  which  she  stated  to  me,  as  tending  to  illustrate  the  18th  of 
Revelation,  and  also  those  which  I  have  myself  collected  from 
the  Roman  newspapers,  the  Contemjporaneo  and  Roman  Adver- 
tiser, and  other  authentic  sources. 

This  lady  informed  me,  what  I  have  also  heard  from  other 
quarters,  that  upwards  of  2,000  Testaments  in  Italian  have  re- 
cently been  distributed  among  the  Roman  population.  They  are 
at  this  moment  reading  these  Testaments  from  house  to  house ; 
not,  I  admit,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  to  find  out  the  Saviour,  but  to 
find  out  the  foundation  of  that  overshadowing  hierarchy  under 
which  they  believe  that  their  liberties  and  their  noblest  privileges 
as  men  have  perished.  I  pray,  what  will  doubtless  follow,  that 
whilst  they  are  anxiously  endeavouring  to  find  out  the  foundations 
of  Antichrist's  throne,  they  may  be  led  to  discover,  and  speedily 
discover,  the  glories  and  the  attractions  of  the  Redeemer's  cross. 
Among  the  earliest  discoveries  which  the  Romans  have  made  in 
the  New  Testament,  there  are  one  or  two  which  have  especially 
delighted  me.  You  are  aware  that  nine  out  of  ten  of  these  Ro- 
mans never  saw  a  New  Testament  at  all.     Mr.  Seymour,  in  his 


J 


288  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

admirable  account  of  a  visit  to  Kome,  says  that  he  called  at  every 
bookseller's  in  Rome,  &c.  in  search  of  a  Bible  in  the  language 
of  the  country,  and  failed  to  find  one. 

These  defrauded  Italians  have  at  length  got  the  Bible  —  the 
Bible  in  their  own  tongue — for  the  first  time ;  and  in  it  they  have 
discovered  much  that  has  delighted  and  electrified  them.  Aus- 
trians,  I  need  scarcely  tell  you,  are  thundering  at  the  walls  of  the 
chief  cities  in  the  states  of  the  Church,  in  order  to  restore  and 
reinstate  the  Pope;  French  shot  and  shells  are  piercing  the  roofs 
of  the  noblest  churches,  and  the  most  beautiful  monuments  of 
architectural  grandeur  in  the  midst  of  Rome.*  The  Romans 
naturally  regard  their  assailants  as  the  friends,  emissaries,  and 
auxiliaries  of  the  Pope,  anxious  to  carry  back  upon  their  bayonets 
him  whom  the  people  have  dismissed  in  the  exercise  of  a  just 
and  righteous  indignation.  In  searching  tKe  New  Testament  the 
Romans  have  discovered  this  text : — "  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this 
world,  else  would  my  servants  fight  for  mej"  "but,"  they  say, 
"  the  Pope's  servants  are  fighting  for  him — ^bayonets  bristle  around 
the  walls,  and  the  roar  of  the  cannon  is  reverberating  in  their 
streets,  in  order  to  bring  the  Pope  back ;"  and  they  argue,  logic- 
ally enough,  "  Can  his  kingdom  be  Christ's  kingdom  ?  Can  this 
be  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  who  employs  weapons  so  incompatible 
with  the  mind,  and  so  contrary  to  the  express  declaration  of 
Christ  ?'''  This  one  text  has  fallen  like  a  thunderbolt  in  the  midst 
of  them,  deepening  and  strengthening  the  conviction,  which  I 
am  told  is  gaining  ground  every  day  in  the  hearts  of  170,000 
souls,  that  the  Pope  is  Antichrist,  and  not  to  be  accepted  as  the 
representative  and  the  Vicar  of  Christ ;  and  so  universal  is  the 
opposition  to  the  return  of  Antichrist,  that  even  females  are  arm- 
ing themselves  with  muskets,  and  ladies  of  rank  are  selling  their 
jewels,  their  golden  trinkets,  and  their  most  valuable  ornaments, 
and  turning  them  into  money,  to  furnish  powder  and  ammunition 
for  the  Romans  to  defend  their  city  against  the  besieging  army. 
I  was  told  by  this  lady,  that  such  was  the  enthusiasm  of  the  in- 
habitants, that  the  moment  they  were  told  that  a  breach  was 
made  by  the  French,  and  heard  the  bell  of  St.  Angelo  rung, 

*  This  Lecture  was  delivered,  I  need  scarcely  add,  while  Eome  was  besieged 
by  Oudinot  and  the  French. 


CONSUMPTION  OF  BABYLON.  289 

though  this  was  done  prematurely,  in  half  an  hour  every  window 
in  Kome  was  illuminated,  and  the  people  ready  to  be  buried  in 
the  ruins  rather  than  to  surrender  the  town  to  the  array  of  the 
so-called  Vicar  of  Christ. 

Another  and  a  very  remarkable  text  which  the  Romans  have 
discovered,  and  which  has  made  a  very  deep  impression  on  them, 
is  contained  in  John  x.  11 ;  where  Christ  says,  "  I  am  the  good 
shepherd  :  the  good  shepherd  giveth  his  life  for  the  sheep.  The 
hireling  fleeth,  because  he  is  an  hireling,  and  careth  not  for  the 
sheep."  With  consummate  ingenuity  and  sound  critical  acumen 
they  have  drawn  the  conclusion,  if  the  Pope  were  the  true  shep- 
herd he  would  have  stayed  by  his  sheep ;  but  without  their  com- 
pelling him,  but  simply  asking  him  to  discharge  duties  he  had 
neglected,  he  fled  from  the  fold,  and  disappeared  in  the  most 
humiliating  disguise ;  and  instead  of  feeding  the  sheep  with  good 
food,  he  is  fulminating  bulls  and  anathemas  against  them  from 
Gaeta,  where  he  is  in  exile.  I  am  told  also,  that  the  Romans 
have  written  to  the  Pope,  and  informed  him  that  if  he  will  come 
back  and  continue  a  Christian  bishop  in  the  midst  of  them,  and 
do  the  duty  of  a  Christian  pastor,  they  have  not  the  least  objec- 
tion to  receive  him.  I  do  not  say  the  Romans  are  Protestants 
because  they  read  the  New  Testament  and  quote  these  texts. 
These  are  but  the  chinks  and  crevices  through  which  the  light  is 
streaming  in;  it  is  but  the  commencement  of  reformation.  Thus 
Martin  Luther  began  his  labours,  believing  the  Pope  to  be  the 
true  representative  of  Christ ;  his  eyes  were  not  opened  to  his 
apostate  and  antichristian  character,  until  after  he  had  awakened 
the  Reformation,  and  commenced  that  mighty  movement  which 
was  destined  to  overspread  the  whole  earth.  The  Romans,  then, 
have  written  to  the  Pope,  telling  him,  that  if  he  will  come  back 
as  a  simple  Christian  pastor,  they  have  not  the  slightest  objection 
to  his  return  ;  and  they  have  added  this  striking  postscript,  the 
most  eloquent  part  of  their  epistle, — that  if  the  Pope  does  not 
come  back  as  they  have  invited  him,  and  that  right  speedily,  the 
whole  population  of  Rome  will  become  lirotestants.  This  is  what 
the  people  themselves  say.  It  is  very  remarkable,  too,  that  the 
Jews,  actuated,  it  may  be,  by  mercenary  motives,  but  believing, 
as  they  universally  do,  that  the  great  obstruction  to  their  restora- 

25 


290  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

tion  to  their  own  land  is,  the  antichristian  domination  of  Rome, 
arc  selling  New  Testaments  in  the  streets,  and  pointing  out  to  the 
people,  2  Thess.  ii.  3,  4,  and  showing  them  the  complete  identity 
between  the  picture  there  given  of  antichrist  and  the  features 
and  deportment  of  Pius  IX.,  who  has  for  the  last  two  years  pre- 
sided over  them.  I  mentioned,  on  a  previous  occasion,  what 
seems  to  be  a  foreshadowing  of  the  great  result  which  is  to  follow 
after  the  destruction  of  Babylon,  namely,  that  a  great  multitude 
is  heard,  like  the  voice  of  many  thunders,  saying,  "  Hallelujah  ;" 
this  being  the  first  Hebrew  word  which  occurs  in  the  songs  of 
the  redeemed ;  from  which  Mr.  Elliot  and  many  others  have  in- 
ferred that  this  signifies,  that  the  restored  Jews  are  to  take  their 
part  in  that  glorious  choir,  composed  of  Jew  and  Gentile,  which 
begins  the  new  song  when  Babylon  is  fallen.  And  may  it  not 
be,  that  the  poor  Jew  in  his  ignorance,  pointing  out  to  the  Roman, 
in  equal  ignorance,  the  points  of  identity  between  the  antichrist 
portrayed  in  the  Scripture,  and  the  antichrist  who  has  so  long 
ruled  at  Rome,  is  a  foreshadow  cast  upon  the  world's  dial ;  pre- 
intimating  that  the  glorious  era  is  at  hand  when  Babylon  shall  be 
utterly  consumed,  and  the  Jews  shall  march  to  their  own  happy 
and  renovated  land,  and  worship,  saying,  <'  Hosanna,  blessed  is 
He  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord ;"  and  mourning  in 
bitterness  of  soul,  as  they  march  homeward,  that  their  fathers 
were  so  far  left  to  themselves  as  to  cry,  "Away  with  him,  away 
with  him ;  crucify  him,  crucify  him  !" 

It  is  predicted  that  the  kings  of  the  earth  should  mourn  and 
lament  over  the  desolation  of  Babylon  and  the  destruction  of 
antichrist.  Now,  what  is  the  general  impression  at  this  moment 
obviously  and  audibly  made  upon  all  the  kings  and  governments 
of  the  earth  ?  Great  vexation  that  the  Pope,  i.  e.  antichrist,  is 
losing,  what  they  say  is  necessary  to  his  independence, — his  tem- 
poral sovereignty.  France  and  Austria  so  lament  the  ruin  that 
has  taken  place  at  Rome,  that  they  have  sent  their  armies  to  re- 
store the  former  state  of  things.  There  is  also  too  much  sym- 
pathy expressed  by  all  j»rties  in  our  own  Parliament,  with  what 
is  now  taking  place  at  Rome.  May  not  this  be  the  commence- 
ment of  an  efibrt  to  avert  the  blow  which  will  only  make  it  fall 
more  severe  and  terrible ;  and  of  that  sympathy  with  her  ruia 


CONSUMPTION  OF  BABYLON.  291 

•which  shall  be  expressed  by  all,  except  those  who  have  not  re- 
ceived the  mark  of  the  beast  in  their  foreheads,  or  in  their 
hands  ? 

There  are  three  great  facts  which  I  wish  to  illustrate ;  the  first 
is,  that  the  destruction  of  Babylon,  so  vividly  delineated  in  this 
18th  chapter  of  the  Apocalypse,  has  now  begun ;  the  second,  the 
recent  disclosures  that  have  taken  place  on  all  sides,  tending  to 
show  that  Babylon  has  been  a  curse,  not  a  blessing,  to  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth ;  and  the  third  is  the  evidence,  now  coming  out 
clearly  and  distinctly,  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  special  feature  in 
chap,  xviii.  24,  "  In  her  was  found  the  blood  of  prophets  and  of 
saints,  and  of  them  that  were  slain  in  the  earth." 

My  first  proposition  then,  is,  that  Babylon  is  not  only  now 
being  consumed,  but  that  the  commencement  of  her  final  ruin 
has  taken  place.  Let  me  give  you  the  evidence  that  I  have  col- 
lected upon  this  subject.  The  first  is  a  letter  which  many  of  you 
may  have  seen  in  the  public  prints,  and  which  is  to  the  following 
effect :  — 

A  private  letter  from  Kome,  quoted  in  the  Times  of  Friday, 
says :  —  "  This  poor  dear  place  is  going  fast  to  the  dogs.  Nothing 
will  be  saved,- — not  even  those  magnificent  remains  that  belong 
to  the  entire  world,  and  not  alone  to  those  dreadful  Romans  that 
allow  such  pillage.  You  know  the  beautiful  spot  between  the 
Colosseum  and  the  Campidoglio,  where  there  was  a  fine  alley  of 
trees.  I  have  just  passed  over  it,  and  the  trees  have  been  all  dug 
up.  All  the  ground  is  torn  up,  and  cartloads  of  it  are  being 
taken  away,  in  order  to  level  it  for  a  reviewing  ground.  Imagine 
their  making  away  with  the  remains  of  the  palace  of  the  Caesars 
and  the  Colonnas ;  perhaps  even  the  arches  !  They  have  taken 
the  chalices  from  St.  Peter's,  and  melted  them.  All  the  bells, 
with  one  exception,  have  been  taken  from  the  churches.  The 
beautiful  gold  rose,  used  once  a-year  by  the  Pope  in  a  religious 
ceremony,  was  walled  up  to  preserve  it ;  but  a  spy  informed  the 
government,  and  it  has  been  destroyed ;  and  all  the  plate  belong- 
ing to  the  Pope,  some  of  which  dated  from  Sextus  V.,  has  been 
melted,  and  the  treasures  of  the  two  chapels  have  undergone  the 
same  operation.  They  insist  upon  all  the  statues,  tombs,  and 
balustrades  in  bronze  being  melted  also :  and  when  rich  and  even 


292  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

poor  individuals  offered  25,000f.  to  save  some  bells  at  St.  Philip's, 
and  at  Jesu  and  Maria,  they  said  it  was  not  the  money,  but  the 
destruction  of  the  bells  they  wanted.  The  holy  offices  of  Easter 
are  only  to  take  place  in  one  or  two  churches,  and  that  in  the 
simplest  manner  possible.  The  chefs-d'oeuvre  of  art  are  being 
taken  from  the  museums  by  the  chiefs  of  the  government.  The 
church  of  St.  John  Lateran  has  not  been  touched  yet.  They  set 
fire  the  other  night  to  a  number  of  carriages  in  the  Via  Ba- 
buine,  belonging  to  a  nobleman,  out  of  vengeance.  Water  is 
kept  ready,  in  case  they  should  set  fire  to  St.  Peter's  or  the  other 
churches." 

I  will  now  read  to  you  another  document,  confirmatory  of  my 
impression  that  Rome  is  now  receiving  its  premonitory  warning : 
it  is  an  extract  from  the  Roman  Advertiser  of  December  2, 
1848  :— 

"  It  is  impossible  to  contemplate  without  deep  interest  the  re- 
cent departure  of  Pius  IX.,  in  the  silence  and  secrecy  of  night, 
from  the  Eternal  City,  wherein  he  was  crowned  only  two  short 
years  ago  as  its  head,  temporal  and  spiritual,  the  representative 
of  St.  Peter  and  God's  vicegerent  upon  earth. 

"  Father  Ventura,  in  a  recent  sermon,  said,  Pius  IX.  will,  we 
hope,  remember  that  the  medal  coined  in  honour  of  his  election 
bore  the  inscription — Nov,  relinquam  vos  orphanos." 

This  last  extract  shows  how  truly  the  Pope  assumes  to  take  the 
place  of  Christ.  Christ  says,  "  I  will  not  leave  you  orphans ;  I 
will  come  unto  you ;"  —  a  coin  was  struck  on  the  election  of  the 
present  Pope,  on  which  was  engraved  that  promise  of  Christ,  ap- 
propriated and  applied  to  himself  by  Pius  IX.,  as  the  Vice-Christ, 
i.  e.  the  Antichrist.  This  same  paper  —  the  Advertiser  —  speaks 
thus  of  the  Pope's  recent  fulmination,  and  shows  how  completely 
the  pontifical  power  is  gone  :  —  "  The  Roman  people  have  never 
been  celebrated  for  the  reverence  with  which  they  have  received 
commendatory  warnings.  The  present  liberty  of  the  press  subjects 
the  Pontiff's  right  of  excommunication  to  a  scrutinizing  examina- 
tion which  it  has  never  before  been  allowed  to  undergo  in  this 
Catholic  city."— i?om.  Adv.,  Jan.  13,  1849. 

In  other  words,  the  liberty  of  the  press  has  now  been  obtained 
for  the  first  time  j  and  the  press,  like  an  impartial  censor,  has 


CONSUMPTION  OF  BABYLON.  293 

passed  its  judgment  even  upon  the  bulls  and  anathemas  issued 
by  the  Pope.  The  Cotemporaneo,  another  Roman  newspaper, 
speaks  thus  of  it,  Jan.  20  :  —  "  The  excommunication  should  in 
justice  be  applied  to  those  who  counselled  the  Pope's  flight.  The 
excommunication  has  been  sold  about  the  city,  and  it  was  a  novel 
sight  to  see  how  the  people  turned  the  Pontifical  act  into  ridicule, 
tearing  it  down  and  burning  it.  In  the  year  1849,  the  weapons 
tempered  in  the  Vatican  can  no  longer  serve  the  cause  of  des- 
potism. The  Gospel  can  no  longer  be  changed  according  to  the 
pleasure  of  the  Popes."  This  reminds  one  of  a  scene  in  the  16th 
century,  when  Luther  burned  the  Pope's  bull  of  excommunication 
in  the  fire  which  they  had  kindled  in  the  streets  of  Wittemburg. 
In  the  Eternal  City,  where  lately  the  Pope  was  absolute  sovereign 
—  where  his  will  was  law  —  where  his  thunders  were  believed  to 
be  divine  —  the  solemn  bull  which  he  has  issued  is  taken  by  his 
own  subjects,  and  torn  and  burned  upon  the  public  streets. 

It  is  no  less  evidence  of  the  beginning  of  her  judgments  that 
the  Right  Reverend  and  Eminent  the  merchants,  who  have  been 
enriched  by  her  merchandize,  their  sales  of  indulgences,  and 
other  ecclesiastical  traffic,  begin  to  mourn  over  her,  and  lament 
that  so  great  and  goodly  a  city  is  about  to  come  to  nothing.  The 
extract  I  give  is  from  a  speech  of  the  Right  Reverend  Dr.  Wise- 
man, Archbishop  of  Westminster.  The  health  of  the  Pope  was 
proposed  at  a  public  dinner,  in  June  1849,  at  which  he  was  pre- 
sent, on  which  Dr.  Wiseman  thus  spoke  : — 

"  In  rising  to  propose  the  next  toast,  his  Lordship  said,  he  ex- 
perienced mingled  feelings  of  pleasure  and  of  regret.  It  was  a 
toast  ever  received  with  deep  feeling  in  a  Catholic  assembly  j  but 
at  the  present  moment  there  was  a  deeper  and  a  melancholy  in- 
terest attached  to  it,  from  the  position  in  which  the  noble,  gene- 
rous, and  sainted  Pontiff  who  filled  the  chair  of  St.  Peter  was 
placed  by  the  ingratitude  of  his  subjects,  and  the  base  plottings 
of  unprincipled  agitators.  A  feeling  of  proud  pleasure  must 
arise  in  every  Catholic  heart  to  see  the  quiet,  calm,  and  dignified 
manner  in  which  the  revered  Father  of  the  Faithful  rose  majes- 
tically, untroubled  and  serene,  above  the  angry  surges  that  were 
raging  around  him,  performing  his  spiritual  functions  as  Supreme, 
manifesting  his  anxieties  for  the  most  distant  portions  of  the 

25* 


0,94  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIBA. 

church,  as  collectedly,  whilst  now  an  exile  at  Gaeta,  as  though 
seated  on  his  throne  in  the  halls  of  the  Vatican.  But  a  feeling 
of  sorrowful  melancholy  o'erclouded  the  heart  when  we  reflected 
on  the  state  of  Rome  —  of  Rome,  the  Eternal  City  —  Rome,  so 
jong  the  seat  and  centre  of  Catholicity,  the  throne  of  its  PontiflF 
—  Rome,  the  mistress  of  the  Christian  world,  the  depository  of 
the  most  splendid  monuments  of  ancient  and  modem  art,  the 
delight  of  the  learned,  the  joy  of  the  Catholic  heart  —  now  sur- 
rounded without  by  an  hostile  army,  and  within  the  prey  to  fac- 
tions, and  under  the  rule  of  a  reckless  banditti.  It  would  seem 
as  though  the  Almighty  had  purposely  humbled  the  Sacred  City, 
in  order  to  test  our  love  and  confidence  in  him,  and  to  afford  the 
Catholic  world  an  opportunity  of  displaying  its  affection  and 
fidelity  to  his  Vicegerent  on  earth.  The  last  intelligence  received 
purports  that  the  French  troops  have  entered  the  city  as  victors, 
and,  strange  as  it  may  appear,  yet  one  can  hardly  help  feeling  it 
to  be  a  happiness  that  she  is  a  captive  for  the  moment,  in  the 
hope  that  order  may  once  more  be  restored,  and  her  sovereign 
replaced  on  the  throne — for  Rome  is  nothing  without  the  Pope. 
It  is  difficult  to  know  what  to  anticipate  in  the  present  state  of 
affairs,  but  we  cannot  be  wrong  in  wishing  that  whatever  may, 
amidst  his  anxieties  and  cares,  be  the  wish  nearest  and  dearest  to 
the  heart  of  our  beloved  Pontiff, — that  for  which  his  prayers  may 
be  poured  to  the  Throne  of  Mercy, — may  be  granted  to  him,  and 
that  he  may  live  to  return  once  more  in  peaceful  triumph  to  the 
Sacred  City,  there  to  reign  over  the  Church  in  tranquillity  and 
length  of  days.  (The  toast  was  received  with  loud  and  repeated 
cheers.") 

I  will  also  read  to  you  an  extract  from  the  most  recent  docu- 
ment which  the  Pope  himself  has  penned,  an  allocution  dated 
April  20,  1849,  in  which  he  almost  echoes  the  words  of  Rev. 
xviii. :  — 

"  Meanwhile  there  is  no  one  who  does  Uot  see  with  how  many 
grievous  wounds  the  immaculate  spouse  of  Christ  is  now  assailed 
in  the  very  regions  of  the  Pontifical  State ;  with  what  chains, 
with  what  most  shameful  servitude  she  is  more  and  more 
oppressed,  and  with  what  difficulties  her  visible  head  is  over- 
whelmed.    For  who  is  so  ignorant,  that  our  communications  with 


CONSUMPTION  OF  BABYLON.  29& 

the  city  of  Rome  and  with  its  clergy,  most  dear  to  us,  and  with 
the  whole  episcopate  and  the  other  faithful  of  the  Pontifical 
dominion,  has  been  so  obstructed,  that  we  cannot  freely  send  or 
receive  even  letters,  although  treating  of  ecclesiastical  and  spi- 
ritual affairs  ?  Who  knows  not,  that  the  city  of  Rome,  the  prin- 
cipal See  of  the  Catholic  Church,  is  at  present — Oh  sorrowful !  — 
made  a  forest  of  roaring  wild  beasts,  since  it  is  filled  with  men 
of  all  nations,  who,  being  either  apostates  or  heretics,  or  masters 
of  so-called  Communism  or  Socialism,  and  animated  with  extreme 
hatred  against  the  Catholic  truth,  do  both  by  writings  and  every 
other  means  endeavour  to  teach  and  disseminate  all  kinds  of  pes- 
tiferous errors,  and  to  pervert  the  minds  and  hearts  of  all,  so  that 
in  the  very  city  itself,  if  it  were  possible,  the  holiness  of  the 
Catholic  religion  and  the  unchangeable  rule  of  faith  may  be 
depraved  ?  Who  knows  not,  or  has  not  heard,  that  in  the  Pon- 
tifical State,  the  goods,  revenues,  and  possessions  of  the  Church 
have  been  seized  with  rash  and  sacrilegious  daring,  the  most 
august  churches  stripped  of  their  ornaments,  the  monasteries 
turned  to  profane  uses ;  the  virgins  consecrated  to  God  harassed  ', 
the  most  virtuous  and  distinguished  ecclesiastics  and  religious 
cruelly  persecuted,  put  in  chains,  and  slain ;  the  sacred  and  most 
illustrious  bishops,  even  those  invested  with  the  dignity  of  the 
Cardinalate,  violently  dragged  away  from  their  flocks,  and  thrown 
into  dungeons  ?" 

Thus  you  have  heard,  first,  the  testimony  of  the  Roman  news- 
papers; secondly,  the  testimony  of  a  Roman  Catholic  bishop  in 
London ;  and  thirdly,  the  testimony  of  the  Pope  himself,  that 
great  Babylon,  in  the  language  used  in  the  Apocalyptic  descrip- 
tion of  the  efiects  of  the  pouring  out  of  the  seventh  vial,  is 
"  coming  into  remembrance  before  God,  t-o  give  unto  her  the  cup 
of  the  fierceness  of  his  great  wrath."  Let  me  quote  some  more 
proofs  that  this  is  the  fact,  from  other  authentic  sources.  In 
February  last,  the  National  Assembly  of  Rome  passed  four 
decrees,  the  first  of  which  I  will  read  to  you.  But  before  I  do 
so,  let  me  beg  of  you  to  recollect,  first,  that  chap,  xviii.  begina 
with  the  angel's  voice  proclaiming,  "  Babylon  the  Great  is  fallen, 
is  fallen ;"  and  next,  that  in  my  previous  lectures  on  the  Apoca- 
lypse I  showed  you,  that  whenever  there  is  a  voice  from  heaven, 


296  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA- 

there  is  always  to  be  traced  the  evidence  of  its  echo  upon  earth. 
This  first  law  passed  by  the  Constituent  Assembly  was  in  these 
words : — 

"  The  Papacy  is  fallen,  in  deed  and  in  right,  from  the  tem- 
poral government  of  the  Roman  States." 

And  it  was  decreed  by  another  order  of  the  same  assembly,  that 
the  armorial  bearings  of  the  Pope  should  be  erased  from  all  the 
public  offices ;  and  when  the  Pope's  protest,  dated  February  14, 
was  read  in  the  National  Assembly — a  protest  which,  a  few  years 
ago,  would  have  made  them  tremble, — they  neither  returned  an 
answer  to  it,  nor  took  any  other  notice  of  its  contents  than  this, 
*'  Viva  la  IZepuhlica  !" 

On  February  26,  a  decree  was  passed,  ordaining  that  the  super- 
fluous bells  in  all  the  churches  of  Rome  should  be  taken  down,  in 
order  to  be  cast  into  cannon  ;  and  when  this  order  was  enforced, 
60,000  pounds  of  bronze  were  obtained  from  the  bells  so  taken 
down,  out  of  which,  combined  with  other  material,  were  formed 
sixty  of  the  largest  field-pieces.  By  another  decree  of  the  Con- 
stituent Assembly,  the  episcopal  and  apostolic  palaces  were  ordered 
to  be  placed  immediately  under  the  surveillance  of  the  Minister 
of  Public  Works,  to  be  turned  to  public  account,  and  all  eccle- 
siastical property  to  pass  into  the  possession  of  the  State.  The 
same  paper  —  the  Roman  Advertiser  —  which  I  have  already 
quoted,  has  also  the  following  passage  :  — 

"  It  has  been  frequently  observed  by  serious  and  enlightened 
travellers,  that  any  person  ignorant  of  the  Christian  religion,  on 
being  first  introduced  into  the  glorious  temple  of  St.  Peter's,  and 
beholding  the  splendid  habiliments  and  refulgent  tiara  of  the 
Pope — the  incense  ofiered  up  to  him — the  repeated  genuflections 
before  him — the  carrying  him  about  above  the  heads  of  others — 
in  short,  all  outward  signs  of  adoration  paid  to  him,  would  in- 
evitably draw  the  conclusion  that  the  Pope  was  himself  the  deity 
of  the  place.  It  will  be  asked,  What  was  wanting  this  year  in 
the  Easter  solemnities  ?  There  was  wanting  the  Vicar  of  Christ 
carried  through  our  fanes. — In  his  absence,  God  and  the  people 
remained." 

How  corroborative  of  what  I  have  stated  are  these  words,  that 
the  Pope  is  Antichrist,  sitting  in  the  temple  of  God,  showing 


CONSUMPTION  OF  BABYLON.  297 

himself  as  if  he  were  God.  The  question  is  asked  in  this  paper, 
how  they  have  got  on  without  the  Pope  ?  and  it  is  answered  sub- 
stantially in  the  language  of  Scripture  truth, — "  Where  two  or 
three  are  met  together  in  ray  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of 
them."  A  very  noble  sentiment  is  this,  again  corroborating  the 
conclusion  I  am  endeavoring  to  draw,  that  the  consumption  of 
Babylon  has  now  commenced,  that  the  knell  of  her  doom  begins 
to  sound  from  the  place  of  her  crimes ;  and  bishops  in  London, 
the  Pope  in  Gaeta,  and  newspapers  in  Italy,  are  all  testifying, 
with  one  simultaneous  voice,  that  Babylon  begins  to  fall,  and  that 
God  has  given  her  to  drink  of  the  cup  of  his  righteous  indigna- 
tion. 

I  have  shown,  then,  my  first  proposition,  namely,  that  Rome 
is  coming  under  the  judgments,  and  that  the  Pope  and  those  who 
are  connected  with  him  are  beginning  to  feel  that  it  is  so.  1 
might  show  you  that  this  is  not  confined  to  Rome.  The  Jesuits 
have  been  expelled  from  Europe ;  the  priests  in  Austria  and  in 
France  are  constrained  to  obey  the  behests  of  an  infidel  popula- 
tion ;  and  in  Ireland,  I  am  informed  by  several  excellent  minis- 
ters of  the  Irish  Church,  the  revolution  which  has  taken  place  in 
the  feelings  of  the  people,  who  once  all  but  worshipped  the 
priests,  is  scarcely  credible ;  and  in  Ireland  also  all  the  signs  and 
symbols  of  the  impending  downfal  of  the  popedom  are  every  day 
developing  themselves  with  greater  distinctness. 

Now,  do  not  conclude  that  I  justify  all  the  measures,  or  applaud 
the  instruments,  that  are  employed  to  destroy  the  popedom  :  I  do 
not  justify  the  deeds  of  the  French  and  Austrians,  who,  in 
helping  the  destruction  of  Rome,  which  is  the  purpose  of  God, 
are  endeavouring  only  to  accomplish  their  own  ambitious  pur- 
poses. God  used  Napoleon  to  punish  the  guilty  nations  of  the 
continent  of  Europe ;  Cyrus  of  old  was  his  battle-axe ;  and  God 
is  now  using  men  of  any  religion  and  men  of  no  religion  to  exe- 
cute his  righteous  judgments  upon  that  city  which  has  corrupted 
the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  the  doom  of  which  is  fixed,  so  that 
no  human  power  can  reverse  it. 

Having  noticed,  then,  this  first  proposition,  I  will  now  proceed 
to  show  you  that  the  impression  is  becoming  deeper  every  day, 
that  the  Church  of  Rome  has  been  a  curse  and  a  calamity  instead 


298  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

of  being  a  blessing  to  manldnd.  You  recollect  that  when  she 
comes  into  remembrance  before  God,  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
smitten  with  a  sense  of  her  crimes,  many  of  them  concur  in  con- 
tributing to  her  humiliation  and  ruin.  And  the  first  fact  that  I 
will  mention  is,  that  within  the  last  year  or  two,  I  may  say,  some 
of  the  most  remarkable  evidences  have  been  given  of  the  utter 
inefficiency  of  the  Church  of  Rome  to  bless  or  benefit  mankind. 
I  might  refer  you  to  the  authentic  statement  given  by  Mr.  Sey- 
mour, in  his  "  Pilgrimage  to  Rome,"  and  his  "  Mornings  with 
the  Jesuits."  I  may  refer  also  to  the  very  admirable  volumes 
composed  by  Mr.  Whiteside,  an  eminent  barrister  in  Dublin,  who 
lately  visited  Rome ;  to  the  statements  of  the  Honourable  Mr. 
Percy,  who  also  has  recorded  his  experience ;  and  lastly,  the  ex- 
tremely brilliant,  but,  I  must  add,  partial  History  of  England  by 
the  Right  Hon.  Mr.  Macaulay.  Upon  this  subject  he  has  recorded 
his  judgment  as  an  historian  in  the  following  eloquent  and  con- 
clusive terms : — 

"  But  during  the  last  three  centuries,  to  stunt  the  growth  of 
the  human  mind  has  been  her  chief  object.  Throughout  Chris- 
tendom, whatever  advance  has  been  made  in  knowledge,  in 
freedom,  in  wealth,  and  in  the  arts  of  life,  has  been  made  in  spite 
of  her,  and  has  everywhere  been  in  inverse  proportion  to  her 
power.  The  loveliest  and  most  fertile  provinces  of  Europe  have, 
under  her  rule,  been  sunk  in  poverty,  in  political  servitude,  and 
in  intellectual  torpor;  while  Protestant  countries,  once  proverbial 
for  sterility  and  barbarism,  have  been  turned  by  skill  and  industry 
into  gardens,  and  can  boast  of  a  long  list  of  heroes  and  statesmen, 
philosophers  and  poets.  Whoever,  knowing  what  Italy  and 
Scotland  naturally  are,  and  what,  four  hundred  years  ago,  they 
actually  were,  shall  now  compare  the  country  round  Rome  with 
the  country  round  Edinburgh,  will  be  able  to  form  some  judg- 
ment as  to  the  tendency  of  Papal  domination.  The  descent  of 
Spain,  once  the  first  among  monarchies,  to  the  lowest  depths  of 
degradation, — the  elevation  of  Holland,  in  spite  of  many  natural 
disadvantages,  to  a  position  such  as  no  commonwealth  so  small 
has  ever  reached,  teach  the  same  lesson.  Whoever  passes  in  Ger- 
many from  a  Roman  Catholic  to  a  Protestant  principality,  in  Swit- 
zerland from  a  Roman  Catholic  to  a  Protestant  canton,  in  Ireland 


CONSUMPTION  OF  BABYLON.  299 

from  a  Roman  Catholic  to  a  Protestant  county,  finds  that  he  has 
passed  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  grade  of  civilization.  On  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic  th'i  same  law  prevails.  The  Protestants 
of  the  United  States  have  left  far  behind  them  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics of  Mexico,  Peru,  and  Brazil.  The  Roman  Catholics  of  Lower 
Canada  remain  inert,  while  the  whole  continent  round  them  is  in 
a  ferment  with  Protestant  activity  and  enterprise.  The  French 
have  doubtless  shown  an  energy  and  an  intelligence  which,  even 
when  misdirected,  have  justly  entitled  them  to  be  called  a  great 
people.  But  this  apparent  exception,  when  examined,  will  be 
found  to  confirm  the  rule ;  for  in  no  country  that  is  called 
Roman  Catholic  has  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  during  several 
generations,  possessed  so  little  authority  as  in  France." 

One  cannot  but  remark  in  this  place,  what  we  must  surely  con- 
sider a  very  illogical  inference  which  Mr.  Macaulay  draws  from 
these  premises  :  "  Therefore,  let  us  give  to  every  priest  in  Ireland 
some  £200  a  year,  that  he  may  teach  those  principles  which  I 
thus  believe  to  be  destructive  to  the  happiness  and  to  the  progress 
of  our  nation."  His  historical  testimony  remains,  and  will  weigh 
with  statesmen ;  and  while  it  remains  so  clear,  so  decided,  so 
true,  it  may  lead  himself  and  others  to  protest  against  the  very 
deed  they  once  contemplated,  and  so  join  in  exhausting,  not 
building  up,  the  great  apostasy. 

Let  me  also  state  another  fact  which  I  have  drawn  from  the 
statistics  of  the  Roman  States,  that  in  the  Papal  States  there  are 
6  archbishops,  72  bishops,  and  50,000  inferior  clergy,  to  two  and 
a  half  millions  of  population.  In  other  words,  in  the  States  of 
the  Pope  there  is  an  ecclesiastical  teacher  for  every  50  people — 
in  the  city  of  Rome  itself  there  is  an  ecclesiastic  for  every  30 
people  ;  so  that  the  conclusion  must  be  thrust  upon  you,  if  Popery 
has  failed  in  Rome,  it  has  failed  not  for  want  of  means,  of  express- 
ing it,  or  machinery  to  work  it,  or  ministers  to  teach  it ;  and  if  it 
has  failed  under  circumstances  so  favourable  for  its  triumphs,  the 
reason  must  lie,  not  in  any  defect  in  means  or  machinery,  but  in 
the  inherent  defects  of  the  system  itself.  Compare  the  city  of 
Rome  with  the  city  of  London  :  in  London  it  is  calculated  that 
the  ministers  of  religion  of  every  denomination  do  not  amount  to 
one  for  every  8,000  people.     In  Rome,  there  is  a  minister  of 


300  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

Popery  for  every  30  people.  If  then  Popery  has  failed  at  Rome, 
the  fault  is  in  the  system ;  it  cannot  be  deficiency  in  the  machinery, 
for  that  has  been  more  than  adequate,  most  effective,  most  ener- 
getic, most  ably  stistained,  most  strenuously  worked ;  if  Protes- 
tantism has  failed  in  London,  the  fault  may  be  in  the  inadequacy 
of  the  machinery  and  fewness  of  hands  to  work  it,  for  it  has  not 
been  carried  out  by  a  system  adequate  to  the  population  amongst 
which  it  has  been  at  work.  When  the  earthquake,  to  which  I 
have  referred,  convulsed  the  European  continent,  and  when  its 
first  vibrations  were  felt  in  the  capital  of  Italy,  the  whole  popu- 
lation of  Home  rose  in  one  mass,  swept  their  pontifical  monarch 
from  his  throne,  and  sent  him  an  exile  and  an  outcast  to  seek 
refuge  in  a  foreign  land.  But  when  the  vibrations  of  the  same 
earthquake  smote  our  own  great  city,  if  the  people  had  risen 
against  their  rulers,  as  other  nations  of  Europe  had  done,  it  might 
then  have  been  said  that  it  was  because  Christianity  had  not  had 
the  means  of  applying  its  lesson  to  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and 
therefore  they  could  not  express  its  loyalty  and  duties  in  their 
homes.  But  what  was  the  fact  ?  the  moment  that  the  first  symp- 
toms of  rebellion  showed  themselves,  the  whole  population  rose, 
not  to  dismiss  the  monarch  that  they  love,  nor  to  destroy  the  tree 
under  the  shadow  of  which  they  and  their  fathers  have  prospered 
and  become  mighty;  but  to  rally  round  that  throne,  and  to  shield 
that  tree,  so  that  when  their  children  should  tread  upon  their 
ashes,  they  should  read  on  their  tombstones,  "  We  laboured,  and 
ye  have  entered  into  our  labours ;  and  if  we  have  not  increased 
the  heritage  we  received,  at  least  we  have  not  diminished  it,  but 
handed  it  down  to  you  unshorn  of  its  grandeur,  unharmed  in  its 
moral,  social,  and  national  existence."  You  have  here  conclusive 
evidence  that  Protestantism,  even  when  defectively  taught,  is  a 
blessing  to  a  country;  and  that  Popery,  even  under  the  most  ad- 
vantageous means  for  its  application,  is  a  calamity  and  a  curse. 
The  Roman  Constituent  Assembly  has  expressed  its  mind  as 
clearly : — 

"  A  new  nation  presents  itself  to  you  to  solicit  and  to  offer 
friendly  feeling,  respect,  fraternity.  The  nation  that  formerly  was 
the  most  illustrious  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  presents  itself  to  you 
as  a  new  one.    But  between  the  ancient  grandeur  and  this  rcsur- 


CONSUMPTION  OF  BABYLON.  301 

rection  the  Papal  power  stood  for  upwards  of  a  thousand  years. 
People  of  Europe,  we  knew  each  other  when  the  name  of  the 
people  of  Rome  inspired  terror  j  we  have  known  each  other  when 
our  name  excited  pity.  You  may  abhor  the  memory  of  that  age 
of  dominion  and  violence,  but  you  cannot  condemn  us  to  excite 
for  ever  the  pity  of  the  world.  Which  of  you  would  wish  to  be 
pitied?  The  people  of  the  Roman  State  have  determined  to 
reform  their  political  constitution,  and  have  created  a  republic; 
and  before  this  great  act  of  the  imprescriptible  sovereignty  of  the 
people,  the  past  is  destroyed  and  vanishes.  The  people  have 
willed  it.  Who  is  above  the  people  ?  God  alone ;  but  God 
created  the  people  for  liberty.  The  people  have  willed  it,  and 
they  need  not  seek  justification  for  the  past;  their  reason  is 
anterior  to  every  human  act.  But,  if  we  turn  our  eyes  to  the 
past,  we  may  with  tranquillity  contemplate  the  ruins  of  the  Papal 
power,  much  more  so  than  the  latter,  when  it  contemplated  the 
ruins  of  our  ancient  political  greatness.  The  history  of  Italy  was 
a  tale  of  sorrow,  and  a  large  portion  of  it  was  ascribed  to  the 
Papal  power.  And  notwithstanding,  when  the  Pope  came  forward 
and  placed  the  cross  on  the  national  banner,  the  world  saw  that 
the  Italians  were  ready  to  forget  the  faults  of  the  Holy  See,  and 
the* revolution  began  in  the  name  of  a  Pope ;  but  that  was  the 
touchstone  of  what  a  Pope  could  or  could  not  do.  The  prede- 
cessors of  the  last  sovereign  had  been  too  cautious  to  attempt  the 
trial,  and  their  power  was  measured  only  by  the  misery  entailed 
upon  the  people.  The  last  sovereign  was  the  first  to  risk  the 
attempt,  and  wished  to  stop  when  he  discovered  that  he  had 
revealed  a  terrible  truth,  namely,  the  impotency  of  the  Papal 
power  to  render  the  Italian  nation  free,  independent,  and  glorious ; 
he  wished  to  withdraw  from  the  work,  but  it  was  too  late,  for 
Papacy  had  judged  itself.  It  is  hence  that  the  downfall  of 
Popery  has  been  so  near  its  glory ;  the  glory  of  the  Papal  power 
was  the  northern  light  that  precedes  the  darkness.  W^e  still 
hoped ;  but  a  system  of  reaction  was  the  answer  that  came  from 
the  Papal  power.  Reaction  fell ;  the  Pope  at  first  dissembled, 
saw  the  tranquillity  of  the  people,  and  fled ;  and  in  his  flight  he 
bore  with  him  the  certainty  of  exciting  civil  war ;  he  violated 
the  political  constitution,  left  us  without  a  government,  repelled 

26 


302  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

the  messengers  of  the  people,  fomented  discord,  then  threw  him- 
self into  the  arms  of  the  most  ferocious  enemy  of  Italy,  and  ex- 
communicated the  people  !  These  facts  sufficiently  show  that  the 
Papal  sovereignty  neither  could,  nor  would,  modify  itself,  and 
nothing  was  left  but  to  bear  it  or  destroy  it.  It  was  destroyed. 
If  the  liberality  of  kings,  or  the  toleration  of  nations,  had  placed 
the  Papal  power  in  the  city  of  the  Scipios  and  Caesars,  instead 
of  in  the  heart  of  France,  or  on  the  banks  of  the  Danube  or 
the  Thames,  was  that  a  reason  for  depriving  the  Italians 
of  all  the  rights  common  to  nations — the  country  and  liberty  ? 
And  if  it  be  true  that  the  possession  of  a  temporal  sovereignty 
be  necessary  to  the  spiritual  power  of  the  Pontificate,  although 
it  was  not  on  such  a  condition  that  Jesus  Christ  promised  im- 
mortality to  his  Church,  was  Rome  then  destined  to  become  the 
patrimony  of  the  Pope,  and  be  so  for  ever  ?  Rome,  the  patrimony 
of  a  sovereignty,  that  to  subsist  was  forced  to  oppress,  and  to  be 
glorious  was  forced  to  fall  ?  And,  as  a  patrimony  of  Papacy,  was 
Rome  to  be  the  permanent  cause  of  the  ruin  of  Italy  ?  Rome, 
whose  traditions,  whose  name,  nay,  whose  ruins  so  loudly  speak 
of  liberty  and  patriotism  ?  Provoked  and  abandoned  to  ourselves, 
we  have  effected  the  revolution  without  spilling  a  drop  of  blood — 
we  have  re-edified  almost  without  letting  the  sound  of  deraolftion 
be  heard  —  we  have  completely  uprooted  the  sovereignty  of  the 
Popes,  after  having  patiently  submitted  to  it  for  so  many  ages  — 
not  from  any  hatred  of  Papacy,  but  from  love  of  our  country. 
When  a  revolution  has  been  effected  with  such  morality  of  pur- 
pose and  means,  it  is  at  once  proved  that  this  people  did  not 
deserve  to  be  under  the  sway  of  Papacy,  but  was  worthy  of  being 
its  own  master,  worthy  of  the  Republic  !  It  is  worthy,  therefore, 
of  being  admitted  into  the  great  family  of  nations,  and  of  obtain- 
ing your  friendship  and  esteem.  The  Roman  Republic  will  bear 
the  stamp  of  its  origin.  It  will  make  a  free  people  defend  the 
religious  independence  of  the  Pontiff,  to  whom  the  religion  of  a 
republican  people  will  be  worth  more  than  a  few  roods  of  terri- 
tory. The  Roman  Republic  proposes  to  apply  the  laws  of  moral- 
ity and  universal  charity  to  the  line  of  conduct  it  intends  to 
follow,  and  to  the  development  of  its  political  life. 

"For  the  Assembly,  "The  President,  G.  Galletti. 

«  Rome,  March  2." 


CONSUMPTION  OF  BABYLON.  808 

True  to  her  historical  character,  neither  the  Pope  nor  his  min- 
isters repent  of  their  idolatry  under  their  judgments  :  on  the  con- 
trary, they  cleave  the  more  to  the  curse  that  consumes  them,  pro- 
voke the  judgments  and  precipitate  the  ruin  decreed  for  them. 

In  a  letter  dated  "  November,"  from  Gaeta,  the  Pope  says  : — 

''  We  also  repose  all  confidence  in  this,  that  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
who  has  been  raised  '  by  the  greatness  of  her  merits  above  all  the 
choirs  of  angels  up  to  the  throne  of  God ;'  who  has  crushed, 
under  the  foot  of  her  virtues,  the  head  of  the  old  serpent,  and 
who,  'placed  between  Christ  and  the  Church/  full  of  grace  and 
sweetness,  has  ever  rescued  the  Christian  people  from  the  greatest 
calamities,  from  the  snares  and  from  the  attacks  of  all  their  ene- 
mies, and  has  saved  them  from  ruin,  will  in  like  manner  deign, 
taking  pity  on  us  with  that  immense  tenderness  which  is  the 
habitual  out-pouring  of  her  maternal  heart,  to  drive  away  from  us 
by  her  instant  and  all-powerful  protection  before  God,  the  sad  and 
lamentable  misfortunes,  the  cruel  anguish,  the  pains  and  neces- 
sities which  we  sufi"er;  to  turn  aside  the  scourges  of  Divine  wrath 
which  afflict  us  by  reason  of  our  sins,  to  appease  and  dissipate  the 
frightful  storms  of  evil  with  which  the  Church  is  assailed  on  all 
sides,  to  the  unmeasured  grief  of  our  souls;  and,  in  fine,  to 
change  our  sorrow  into  joy. 

"  For  you  know  perfectly,  Venerable  Brethren,  that  the  foun- 
dation of  our  confidence  is  in  the  most  holy  Virgin ;  since  it  is  in 
her  that  God  has  placed  the  plenitude  of  all  good  in  such  sort, 
that  if  there  be  in  us  any  hope,  if  there  be  any  spiritual  health, 
we  know  that  it  is  from  her  that  we  receive  it,  .  .  .  because  such 
is  the  will  of  Him  who  hath  willed  that  we  should  have  all  by  the 
instrumentality  of  Mary. 

"  Gaeta,  Feb.  2,  1849." 

I  have  thus  given  you  the  evidence  of  these  two  propositions : 
first,  that  the  Church  of  Eome  is  now  coming  under  the  judg- 
ment of  God;  and  secondly,  that  as  she  comes  under  these  judg- 
ments her  character  and  her  inefiicicncy  are  becoming  every  day 
more  revealed.  The  third  great  fact,  to  which  I  will  briefly  refer 
in  my  next,  is,  that  "  in  her  was  found  the  blood  of  saints,  and 
of  them  that  were  slain  in  the  earth."     I  will  conclude  this  part 


S04  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

of  my  subject,  in  the  meantime,  with  some  personal  and  practical 
lessons,  which  I  think  ought  to  be  drawn  from  all  that  I  have 
stated. 

First,  I  would  ask,  should  you  not  feel  infinite  delight  that  the 
great  obstruction  to  the  spread  of  the  glorious  Gospel  is  now  pass- 
ing away,  or  soon  to  pass  away  ?  Does  not  the  mariner  upon  the 
ocean's  bosom  rejoice  when  the  cloud  that  obscures  the  pole-star 
has  been  dissolved?  Does  not  the  traveller  in  the  desert  rejoice 
when  the  sun  begins  to  shine  forth  and  lead  him  to  his  home  ? 
Do  not  angels  in  heaven  rejoice  that  great  Babylon  begins  to  fall  ? 
Are  not  the  holy  inhabitants  of  glory  called  upon  to  rejoice  that 
the  hour  of  her  judgment  is  come  ?  Surely,  what  causes  such 
joy  to  the  saints  in  heaven  —  what  is  such  a  contribution  to  the 
spread  of  the  Gospel  upon  earth,  is  not  a  topic  unworthy  of  the 
study,  or  to  be  regarded  without  the  praise  and  thanksgiving  of  the 
people  of  God.  But  this  great  fact,  while  it  tells  us  that  a  great 
obstruction  is  being  removed  from  the  onward  march  of  the  glo- 
rious Gospel,  also  teaches  us  another  great  and  still  more  import- 
ant truth  —  that  we  are  upon  the  eve  of  the  world's  close;  great 
shadows,  like  birds  of  night,  begin  to  rise  above  the  horizon  — 
that  night  which  will  be  so  dark  and  cold  because  the  day  which 
succeeds  it  will  be  so  glorious.  It  is  known  to  every  one  that  the 
night  becomes  coldest  and  darkest  just  before  the  sun  begins  to 
dawn.  We  shall  find  now,  that  all  strange  and  horrible  opinions, 
all  great  and  terrible  delusions,  so  great  and  so  deceptive  that,  if 
it  were  possible,  they  would  deceive  the  very  elect — will  begin  to 
spread  and  to  thicken  all  around.  It  becomes  us  then,  my  dear 
friends,  to  see  that  our  footing  is  on  the  Eock  of  Ages,  to  see 
that  we  are  not  partaking  of  the  sins,  in  order  that  we  may  thus 
escape  the  judgments  which  will  so  speedily  descend  upon  Baby- 
lon. I  ask  then,  to  whom  do  you  belong?  to  Christ  or  Anti- 
christ ?  to  the  true  Church  or  to  the  false  ?  The  longer  I  live, 
the  less  I  seem  to  care  to  what  denomination  you  belong ;  but  the 
longer  I  live,  the  more  I  care  that  you  should  belong  to  that 
blessed  Saviour  whose  living  members  alone  will  stand  the  crash 
of  that  crisis  which  thunders  already  at  our  doors.  Are  you  rest- 
ing then,  my  dear  friends,  on  Christ's  glorious  sacrifice  ?  Are 
you  placing  your  whole  confidence  in  this  fact  alone,  that  '*  he 


CONSUMPTION  OF  BABYLON.  305 

who  knew  no  sin,  was  made  sin  for  us,  that  we  might  be  made 
the  righteousness  of  God  in  him  ?"  Are  you  sanctified,  renewed, 
regenerated,  by  his  Holy  Spirit?  Are  you  living  Christians? 
Is  your  Christianity  a  mere  name,  or  is  it  power  ?  Is  your  reli- 
gion a  mere  conventionalism,  or  is  it  life  ?  Is  it  power  ?  Is  it 
that  plastic  principle  which  knits  you  to  your  Lord,  and  conse- 
crates you  to  the  happiness  and  the  well-being  of  mankind  ? 
Those  establishments  on  which  we  have  too  much  relied  will  in 
all  probability  soon  be  broken  up ;  those  privileges  for  which  we 
have  fought  will  be  taken  away ;  those  distinctions  about  which 
we  quarrelled  will  be  swallowed  up;  nothing  but  vital,  genuine 
religion  will  survive  the  coming  catastrophe  or  stand  the  ordeal. 
And,  my  dear  friends,  to  belong  to  Rome  it  is  not  necessary  that 
you  should  be  a  citizen  of  Rome.  He  that  trusts  in  his  baptism, 
as  if  it  were  regeneration,  is  a  Roman  Catholic ;  he  that  trusts  in 
his  church,  as  if  that  alone  could  save  him,  is  a  Roman  Catholic ; 
he  who  believes  that  all  outside  his  communion  is  Samaria,  and 
that  all  inside  of  it  is  the  true  Israel,  is  a  Roman  Catholic ;  he 
that  can  imprison  for  principle,  or  persecute  for  difference  of 
creed,  may  call  himself  what  he  pleases,  but  he  is  a  Roman  Catho- 
lic. He  that  is  trusting  in  his  tears,  in  his  prayers,  in  his  suffer- 
ings, in  his  sacrifices,  in  anything  he  is,  in  anything  he  has  done> 
or  in  anything  he  has  suffered,  may  call  himself  what  he  pleases? 
but  he  is  a  Roman  Catholic;  and  when  judgment  comes,  the 
nation  that  is  tinged  with  popery  will  feel  that  those  who  partici- 
pate in  any  way  in  the  sins  of  Rome  shall  share  most  disastrously 
in  her  judgments.  My  dear  friends,  let  me  abjure  you  to  decide 
for  Christ — to  take  up  your  position  on  the  Lord's  side.  Do  not 
be  ashamed  to  avow  it  wherever  you  are  —  in  the  shop,  in  the 
warehouse,  in  the  parliament,  in  the  church — do  not  be  ashamed 
to  acknowledge  whose  you  are,  and  for  whose  sake  you  are  pre- 
pared to  live  religiously,  and  to  die  divinely. 

26* 


•w  '»'»<•  V- 


LECTURE  XIX. 

THE  BLOOD  OP   SAINTS  IN  £0M£. 

"  Notwithstanding  I  hare  a  few  things  against  thee,  because  thoa  safferest 
that  woman  Jezebel,  which  calleth  herself  a  prophetess,  to  teach  and  to  se- 
duce my  servants  to  commit  fornication,  and  to  eat  things  sacrificed  unto 
idols."— Rev.  ii.  20. 

"And  in  her  was  found  the  blood  of  prophets,  and  of  saints,  and  of  all  that 
were  slain  upon  the  earth." — Rev.  xviii.  24. 

A  PROMINENT  crime  of  this  woman,  Jezebel,  was  idolatry;  this 
is  one  of  her  distinctive  brands.  The  Church  of  Rome  is,  above 
all,  stained  with  this  crime — a  crime  which  cleaves  to  her  at  this 
day  as  a  corroding  and  consuming  curse ;  and  so  far  from  repent- 
ing of  it  in  the  midst  of  the  judgments  that  have  so  recently  over- 
taken her,  she  has,  through  her  head  and  representative,  and  in 
her  very  last  manifesto,  invoked  the  Virgin  Mary  as  her  patroness, 
and  as  her  in  whom  her  best  hope  is  placed,  and  from  whom  she 
expects  great  deliverance.  The  next  great  oifence  of  which  this 
woman  was  guilty,  namely,  persecution,  is  recorded  in  I.  Kings 
xviii.  14,  where  we  are  told  how  she  "  cut  off  all  the  prophets  of  the 
Lord,  except  those  who  were  hid  by  Obadiah  in  a  cave."  I  need 
not  tell  you  that  persecution  has  long  been  the  characteristic  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  so  that  in  this  respect  also  the  anti- 
type answers  to  the  type  :  the  Bishop's  oath  —  the  Fourth  Late- 
ran — the  Bull  Unigenitus — the  history  of  Europe,  are  proofs.  In 
the  third  and  last  place,  Jezebel  was  suddenly  consumed  and  de- 
stroyed by  a  most  ignominious  death ;  and  so  it  is  said  of  the 
great  apostasy,  which  is  the  antitype  of  her  :  "  I  will  kill  thy  chil- 
dren with  death;  and  thou  shalt  know  that  I  am  he  which 
searcheth  the  reins  and  trieth  the  hearts,  to  give  to  every  man 
according  to  his  works." 

306 


THE  BLOOD  OF  SAINTS  IN  ROME.  SOT- 

I  have  thus,  in  these  three  great  particulars,  hinted  at  the 
chain  of  reasoning  by  which  Jezebel  may  be  shown  to  be  de- 
signed to  be  a  perfect  type  of  Rome,  which  is  her  complete  anti- 
type. It  is  now  stated,  you  observe,  that  during  the  destruction 
of  this  great  apostasy  and  of  its  master  builder,  so  graphically  de- 
lineated in  chap,  xviii.,  there  is  to  be  a  startling  disclosure  and 
dragging  to  light  of  the  persecutions,  the  sanguinary  cruelties  and 
murders  of  the  Church  of  Home.  It  is  whilst  she  is  being  con- 
sumed that  this  fact  evolved :  *'  In  her  was  found  the  blood  of 
saints,  and  of  them  that  were  slain  on  the  earth."  It  is  the  last 
generation  of  Rome  that  is  to  be  visited  for  all  the  sanguinary 
crimes  of  generations  that  have  preceded.  Just  as  our  Lord  said 
of  the  Jews  in  his  day,  "  that  upon  you  may  come  all  the  right- 
eous blood  shed  upon  the  earth,  from  the  blood  of  righteous  Abel 
unto  the  blood  of  Zacbarias  the  son  of  Barachias,  who  was  slain 
between  the  temple  and  the  altar."  You  will  recollect  that,  at 
the  opening  of  the  fifth  seal,  to  which  long  ago  I  called  your  at- 
tention, there  is  a  cry  emitted  by  the  martyrs  who  are  beneath 
the  altar,  "  How  long,  0  Lord,  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not  judge 
and  avenge  our  blood  on  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  ?  And  it 
was  said  unto  them,  that  they  should  rest  yet  a  little  season." 
That  little  season  finishes  with  the  events  recorded  in  Rev.  xviii. 
which  I  have  read.  And  if  it  be  the  fulfilment  of  the  eighteenth 
chapter  which  is  now  taking  place  in  Rome,  then  the  last  days 
of  ecclesiastical  persecution  are  come;  imprisonment  and  pro- 
scription for  conscience'  sake  is  about  to  cease  —  it  may  be  not 
without  a  struggle ;  then  the  sword  that  has  been  stained  with 
the  blood  of  martyrs  shall  be  sheathed,  preparatory  to  being 
turned  into  the  pruninghook;  the  fagots  shall  no  more  be  col- 
lected, and  the  flame  of  the  auto-da-fe  shall  blaze  no  more ;  for 
she  who  persecuted  the  saints,  and  cherished  and  gloried  in  the 
principles  of  persecution,  and  is  drunk  with  their  blood — is  in 
her  turn  about  to  reap  the  judgments  she  has  deserved ;  and  a 
new  era,  and  new  prospects,  and  new  glories,  are  about  to  dawn 
upon  the  world  that  has  so  long  pined,  and  prayed,  and  waited 
for  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God. 

Now,  if  this  be  true,  surely  it  is  an  event  worthy  of  our  no- 
tice.    Do  not  say,  ministers  should  keep  their  eye  within  the 


308  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

boards  of  the  Bible  only,  and  see  no  facts  outside ;  I  submit  they 
should  also  look  abroad :  they  should  endeavour  to  show  God's 
finger  writing  on  the  acres  of  the  earth,  and  on  the  streets  of 
cities,  and  on  the  floore  of  palaces,  the  truth  which  God's  Spirit 
has  inspired  in  the  chapters  of  the  Bible ;  I  cannot  conceive  that 
it  is  an  uninstructive  or  an  unedifying  sermon  when  the  minister 
calls  his  people's  attention  to  great  truths  which  the  Spirit  has 
thought  it  right  to  indite,  and  to  the  probable  accomplishment  of 
those  great  truths  which  the  providence  of  God  is  making  mani- 
fest every  day  that  we  live.  The  most  skeptical  must  admit  that 
the  events  of  the  last  two  years,  in  weight,  in  importance,  in  ra- 
pidity, in  brilliancy  of  eflfect,  in  range  of  action,  are  not  behind 
any  of  the  events  of  the  last  sixteen  centuries.  The  worldly  men 
that  I  have  met  with  are  not  only  startled,  but  awed,  at  the 
events  of  the  age ;  and  even  men  who  used  to  smile  at  the  views 
of  prophecy  I  endeavoured  to  enunciate  in  Exeter  Hall,  are  heard 
saying,  "  Well,  I  begin  to  think  there  is  something  in  these 
things."  Great  statesmen  are,  many  of  them,  at  their  wits'  end, 
and  wondering  what  is  to  be  the  issue.  But  we  know,  what  great 
statesmen  without  the  Bible  never  can  learn,  that  all  this  is  but 
the  tuning  of  innumerable  instruments  selected  and  prepared  of 
God,  in  order  that  each  may  take  its  part  in  that  glorious  jubilee 
in  wJiich  all  creation  shall  join  as  its  song  of  triumph,  "  Hallelu- 
jah !  for  the  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth."  We  know  that  all 
the  stir  and  noise  are  but  the  clearing  of  the  stage  for  the  mani- 
festation of  the  sons  of  God.  We  know  that  it  is  love ;  all  things, 
— the  fall  of  Louis  Philippe,  the  ebbs  and  flows  of  the  Austrian 
dynasty,  the  breaking  up  of  the  German  empire,  the  flight  of  the 
Pope, — all  these  not  sent  in  wrath  to  the  people  of  God ;  on  the 
contrary,  they  bear  in  their  bosoms  countless  benedictions,  and 
in  their  loudest  explosions  may  be  heard  by  the  sanctified  ear, 
the  music  of  the  approaching  footsteps  of  Him  whose  is  the  king- 
dom in  right,  and  whose  shall  be  in  fact  the  kingdoms  and  the 
powers  of  this  world.  We  rejoice  that  it  is  so — we  thank  God 
that  our  lot  is  cast  in  an  epoch  which  is  big  with  so  glorious 
issues.  Surely  it  becomes  the  minister  of  the  Gospel  to  look 
around  him ;  to  weigh  these  accumulating  events,  and  see  whe- 
ther God's  word  casts  any  light  upon  them,  or  whether  they  are 


THE  BLOOD  OF  SAINTS  IN  ROME.  809 

those  dark,  and  objectless,  tumbling  incidents  and  accidents  which 
the  world's  philosophy  pronounces  them  to  be. 

I  have  said,  then,  that  at  the  destruction  of  Babylon  this  great 
disclosure  is  to  be  made,  that  "in  her  was  found  the  blood  of 
saints."  Now  I  state  this,  not  in  order  to  launch  fulminations 
against  Rome  —  not  to  indulge  and  kindle  feelings  of  antipathy 
towards  her — although  that  man  cannot  love  Christ  who  does  not 
hate  Antichrist,  not  indeed  the  poor  creature  Pius  IX.,  but  the 
awful  usurper  of  Christ's  place,  crown,  prerogatives,  and  empire. 
Rome  is  not  to  be  reformed ;  she  is  to  be  convulsed,  revolution- 
ized, destroyed.  It  is  a  great  fact,  which  every  one  should  recol- 
lect, and  which  any  one  who  has  read  the  history  of  that  church 
must  know,  that  every  attempt  to  reform  the  Church  of  Rome 
from  within  has  been  invariably  suppressed,  and  the  originator 
of  it  martyred ;  while  every  attempt  to  reform  the  Church  of 
Rome  from  wiflwut  has  ended  in  her  heresy  becoming  more  in- 
veterate in  error,  apostasy  and  pride. 

The  conclusion  then  which  we  justly  draw  from  these  facts  is, 
that  that  church  is  not  to  be  reformed  at  all.  God's  people  will 
leave  her,  and  then  she  will  be  utterly  destroyed ;  till  they  escape 
she  will  stand.  The  cry,  therefore,  which  should  be  sounded 
forth  from  every  pulpit  at  this  moment,  and  enunciated  on  every 
platform  is,  "  Come  out  of  her,  my  people,  that  ye  be  not  par- 
takers of  her  sins,  and  that  ye  receive  not  of  her  plagues  :"  a  call 
which  appeals  also  to  the  whole  visible  church,  to  have  nothing 
to  do  with  her  —  her  errors,  her  principles,  her  practices.  And 
if  any  portion  of  the  visible  church  will  imprison  the  servants  of 
Christ,  or  those  who  profess  to  be  so,  or  try  to  burn,  or  imprison,, 
or  proscribe  them,  because  they  err  or  act  rashly,  they  are  sharing 
in  the  sins,  and,  as  sure  as  they  do  so,  they  will  share  in  the  judg- 
ments that  are  coming  upon  Babylon.  None  will  escape  those 
judgments  but  those  who  renounce  her  communion,  abjure  her 
principles,  abhor  her  doctrines,  and  stand  faithful  and  true  to 
Him  who  is  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords,  and  will  bear  no 
partner  on  his  throne  and  no  rival  to  his  glory. 

Having  noticed  these  preliminary  facts,  let  me  now  observe, 
that  during  the  last  ten  years,  I  believe  from  1836,  when  Dens' 
theology  was  first  brought  to  light  by  Robert  McGhee,  till  the 


310  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIEA. 

present  moment,  there  has  been  growing  and  accumulating  evi- 
dence of  the  persecuting  spirit,  the  proscriptions,  and  cruelties 
of  the  Church  of  Rome.  I  will  mention  an  interesting  fact,  stated 
by  one  who  has  never  professed  an  ardent  partiality  for  Protest- 
antism, whatever  preference  or  leaning  he  may  have  towards  the 
Eoman  Catholic  church.  When  he  speaks  as  an  historian,  he 
speaks  faithfully  of  that  church,  though  he  sometimes  speaks  as 
a  partizan  in  favour  of  her  maintenance  and  civil  support;  I 
mean,  Macaulav. 

A  devout  Christian,  as  referred  to  by  him,  born  in  Rome  in 
1500,  published  in  1542  a  little  work  on  the  benefits  of  Christ's 
death.  It  was  so  popular,  in  the  depths  of  the  Italian  darkness, 
that  40,000  copies  were  sold  in  six  years.  As  a  matter  of  course, 
he  was  seized  and  thrown  into  the  Inquisition ;  and  the  chief 
accusation  against  him  was  this,  *'  that  he  ascribed  justification 
solely  to  faith  in  the  mercy  of  God  forgiving  our  sins  through 
Jesus  Christ."  After  three  years  he  was  convicted,  and  com- 
mitted to  the  flames.  In  a  letter  written  to  his  wife,  just  before 
his  martyrdom,  he  says,  "  The  hour  is  come  when  I  must  give  up 
my  life  to  my  Lord  and  Father  and  God,  and  I  depart  as  joyfully 
as  if  I  was  going  to  the  nuptials  of  the  Son  of  the  great  King." 
Of  him  and  of  the  church  that  consumed  him,  the  eminent  his- 
torian to  whom  I  have  alluded,  thus  writes  in  the  "  Edinburgh 
Review"  for  1849  :— 

"  It  was  not  on  moral  influence  alone  that  tbe  Catholic  Church 
relied.  In  Spain  and  Italy,  the  civil  power  was  unsparingly  em- 
ployed in  her  support.  The  Inquisition  was  armed  with  new 
powers,  and  inspired  with  a  new  energy.  If  Protestantism,  or 
the  semblance  of  Protestantism,  showed  itself  in  any  quarter,  it 
was  instantly  met,  not  by  party-teasing  persecution,  but  that  sort 
which  tears  down  and  crushes  all  but  a  very  few  select  spirits. 
AVhoever  was  suspected  of  heresy,  whatever  his  rank,  his  learn- 
ing, or  reputation,  was  to  purge  himself  to  the  satisfaction  of  a 
severe  and  vigilant  tribunal,  or  to  die  by  fire.  Heretical  books 
were  sought  out,  and  destroyed  with  unsparing  rigour.  Works 
which  were  once  in  every  house,  were  so  eifectually  suppressed, 
that  no  copy  of  them  is  now  to  be  found  in  the  most  extensive 
libraries.     One  book,  in  particular,  entitled  '  The  Benefits  of  the 


THE  BLOOD  OF  SAINTS  IN  ROME.  311 

Death  of  Christ,'  had  this  fate.  It  was  written  in  Tuscan,  was 
many  times  reprinted,  and  was  eagerij  read  in  every  part  of 
Italy.  But  the  inquisitors  detected  in  it  the  Lutheran  doctrine 
of  justification  by  faith  alone.  They  proscribed  it;  and  :t  is  now 
as  utterly  lost  as  the  second  decade  of  Livy."  The  book  has  since 
been  discovered,  and  is  published  by  the  Tract  Society. 

To  give  an  idea  of  the  persistency,  and  age,  and  antiquity  of 
the  persecuting  spirit  of  Popery,  I  would  call  attention  to  the 
following  facts : — 

"  The  first  extensive  persecution  for  religious  opinions,  after 
the  establishment  of  Christianity,  was  that  levelled  against  the 
Paulicians,  in  the  East,  and  afterwards  in  Bulgaria,  about  the 
ninth  century,  ^ictters  of  Popes  to  the  Emperors  are  extant, 
inciting  them  to  this  persecution.  After  many  individual  cases 
of  martyrdom,  the  more  sweeping  course  of  a  war  of  extermina- 
tion was  taken,  and  tens  of  thousands  fell  by  the  sword;  their 
crime  being  simply  an  adherence  to  the  religion  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament. 

"  Early  in  the  eleventh  century  the  same  spirit  of  persecution 
began  to  show  itself  in  the  West.  In  A.  D.  1017,  twelve  or  four- 
teen canons  of  Orleans,  men  of  learning  and  piety,  were  burnt  at 
the  stake. 

"  In  A.  D.  1075,  Tope  Gregoi^  VII.  writes  to  the  King  of  Den- 
mark that  there  is  a  province  of  Italy  inhabited  hy  heretics,  upon 
whom  he,  the  Pope,  invites  the  said  king  to  make  war ! 

"  In  A.  D.  1126,  Peter  of  Bruys,  an  eminent  preacher  of  the 
truth,  was  burnt  to  death  by  the  Papists,  near  Toulouse ;  and  his 
follower,  Henry  of  Lausanne,  was  put  to  death  by  Alberic,  the 
papal  legate,  in  A.  D.  1147.  In  that  same  year,  Evervinus  of 
Steinfield,  near  Cologne,  records  the  burning  of  a  body  of  heretics, 
by  the  archbishop  of  that  place.  About  that  period,  so  far  from 
there  being  *  no  heretics,'  i.  e.  no  Protestants,  William  of  New- 
bury says,  '  that  they  seemed  to  be  multiplied  beyond  the  sand 
of  the  sea.'  Eckbert  says,  that  they  were  increased  to  multitudes 
in  *  all  countries.' 

"  Towards  the  end  of  that  century  we  find  the  followers  of 
Peter  Waldo  suffering  in  numbers.  Stephen  de  Borbone  states 
that  he  was  present  when  eigJity  of  Waldo's  sect  were  condemned 


812  THE  CHURCH  OF  THTATIRA. 

to  the  flames.  And  Alberic,  in  his  Chronicle,  speaks  of  one  hun- 
dred and  eighttf-two  ^  a  massacre  which  he  terms,  holocaustum 
placahile  Domino. 

"  At  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century  the  Pope  Inno- 
cent III.,  finding  Narbonne  filled  with  'heretics,'  proclaimed  a 
crusade  against  them.  He  thus  precipitated  upon  Languedoc  a 
mass  of  300,000  fanatics,  eager  to  revel  in  the  spoil  and  blood 
of  the  heretics,  and  headed  by  the  unrelenting  Dominic,  the 
founder  of  the  Inquisition.  It  was  in  one  of  their  assaults  upon 
the  devoted  Bezieres,  that  the  papal  legate,  being  asked  how  the 
Catholics  should  be  distinguished  from  the  heretics,  answered, 
'  Kill  them  all!  the  Lord  will  know  his  own  !'  That  same  legate, 
writing  to  Innocent,  computes  the  victims  v^t fifteen  thoimand! 

"  The  Albigenses  were  exterminated.  But  still  *  heresy'  re- 
mained. In  A.  D.  1259,  Uberto,  lord  of  Cremona,  Vercella,  &c. 
was  a  confirmed  '  heretic,'  maintaining  schools  and  scriptural 
preaching  throughout  his  dominions.  In  A.  D.  1210,  twenty-four 
Waldenses  were  condemned  at  Paris ;  in  A.  D.  1304,  the  inquisi- 
tors burnt  one  hundred  and  tJdrieen  ;  and  in  A.  D.  1378,  another 
large  body.  In  A.  D.  1380,  we  find  an  inquisitor  putting  one 
hundred  and  fifty  persons  to  death  at  Grenoble.  About  A.  D. 
1391,  the  inquisitors  in  Saxony  and  Pomerania  apprehended  four 
hundred  and  forty-three.  We  rfbw  reach  the  times  of  the  Lol- 
lards, of  WicklifF,  of  Huss,  and  of  Jerome  of  Prague ;  and  every 
year  is  marked  by  fire,  and  smoke,  and  blood." 

It  is  literally  true  that  there  is  no  spot,  from  the  summit  of 
Calvary  itself  to  the  wildest  ravines  and  most  sequestered  glens 
of  the  Cottian  Alps,  which  has  not  been  stained  with  the  blood 
of  the  saints  of  God,  shed  by  the  hands  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
church.  No  century  has  rolled  past,  since  the  establishment  of 
her  power,  which  has  not  witnessed  the  fagots  collected  and 
kindled,  and  the  saints  burned,  by  her  of  whom  we  are  told  in 
this  book  that  she  is  "  drunk  with  the  blood  of  saints,  and  with 
the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus."  But  the  grandest  discovery 
of  these  condemning  facts  is  reserved  for  the  day  of  her  destruc- 
tion. 

Let  us  then  ascertain  what  facts  of  this  description  have  come 
to  light  during  the  last  few  weeks.     First  of  all,  it  appears  that 


THE  BLOOD  OF  SAINTS  IN  ROME.  313 

on  the  18th  of  February,  the  records  of  which  have  only  recently 
reached  us,  an  edict  was  passed  at  Rome  to  the  following  effect : — 

"  On  the  28th  February  an  edict  of  the  executive  triumvirs 
was  ratified  by  the  National  Assembly,  to  the  following  effect : 
'  The  tribunal  of  the  Holy  Office  [Inquisition]  is  for  ever  abol- 
ished in  Rome.  A  pillar,  commemorative  of  this  act,  shall  be 
erected  on  the  piazza  in  front  of  the  building  hitherto  desecrated 
to  such  unholy  object,  that  posterity  may  not  forget  this  solemn 
deed.  The  Minister  of  Public  Works  is  charged  with  the  exe- 
cution thereof.'  The  only  prisoners  found,  when  the  government 
officers  broke  into  the  concern,  were  two  nuns  undergoing  incar- 
ceration for  misdemeanours,  which,  in  the  case  of  a  Roman  vestal, 
were  punished  by  living  burial.  There  was  also  found  a  bishop, 
or  at  least  a  man  who  had  given  himself  out  as  one,  and  had  acted 
in  that  capacity  in  Syria  and  Egypt,  until  detected  as  an  impostor. 
He  had  been  rotting  in  this  dungeon  for  the  last  twenty-five  years. 
All  records  were  found  burnt,  and  traces  of  recent  incineration 
were  very  perceptible." 

But  the  most  remarkable  thing  is  a  document  issued  by  the 
governing  body  at  Rome,  which  is  a  complete  commentary  on  the 
text.  "  In  her  was  found  the  blood  of  saints."  It  is  to  the  fol- 
lowing effect : — 

"  Memorial  regarding  the  tribunal  of  the  Holy  Office  at  the 
time  of  it^  suppression  in  February,  1849. 

"  In  consequence  of  a  decree  of  the  Roman  Constituent  Assem- 
bly, by  which  the  suppression  of  the  tribunal  of  the  Holy  Office 
was  resolved,  the  government  ordered  that  the  Fathers  of  the 
Dominican  order  then  inhabiting  that  vast  locality,  should  re- 
move to  the  convent  called  Delia  Minerva,  the  chief  seat  of  their 
order.  They  were,  in  number,  eight,  exercising  the  functions  of 
commissary,  chancellor,  &c.  The  doors  were  then  carefully 
sealed  by  the  Roman  notary,  Caggiotti,  to  prevent  the  abstraction 
of  any  object,  and  a  keeper  was  appointed  to  the  premises. 
These  precautions  taken,  the  inventory  was  commenced.  The 
first  place  visited  was  the  ground-floor  of  the  edifice,  where  were 
the  prisons,  and  the  stables,  coach-houses,  kitchen,  cellars,  and 
other  conveniences  for  the  use  of  the  assessor  and  the  father  in- 
quisitors.    This  part  of  the  building  was  to  be  immediately  pre- 

27 


314  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

pared  for  the  reception  of  the  civic  artillery,  with  the  train 
belonging  to  it. 

"  Some  new  doors  were  opened  in  the  walls,  and  part  of  a  pave- 
ment raised.  In  this  operation  human  bones  were  found,  and  a 
trap-door  discovered,  which  induced  a  resolution  to  make  exca- 
vations in  certain  spots  pointed  out  by  persons  well  acquainted 
with  the  locality.  Digging  very  deep  in  one  place,  a  great  num- 
ber of  human  skeletons  were  found,  some  of  them  placed  so  close 
together,  and  so  amalgamated  with  lime,  that  no  bone  could  be 
moved  without  being  broken.  In  the  roof  of  another  subterra- 
nean chamber  a  large  ring  was  found  fixed.  It  is  supposed  to 
have  been  used  in  administering  the  torture.  It  still  remains 
there.  Along  the  whole  length  of  this  same  room,  stone  steps, 
rather  broad,  were  attached  to  the  wall ;  these  probably  served 
for  the  prisoners  to  sit  or  recline  on.  In  a  third  under-ground 
room  was  found  a  quantity  of  very  black,  rich  earth,  intermingled 
with  human  hair,  of  such  a  length  that  it  seemed  women's  rather 
than  men's  hair;  here  also  human  bones  were  found.  In  this 
dungeon  a  trap-door  was  formed  in  the  thickness  of  the  wall, 
which  opened  into  a  passage  in  the  flat  above,  leading  to  the  room 
where  examinations  were  conducted.  Among  the  inscriptions 
made  with  charcoal  on  the  wall,  it  was  observed  that  many  ap- 
peared of  very  recent  date,  expressing  in  most  affecting  terms  the 
sufferings  of  every  kind  endured  in  these  chambers.  The  per- 
son of  most  note  found  in  the  prisons  of  the  Inquisition  was  a 
bishop  named  Kasner,  who  had  been  in  confinement  for  above 
twenty  years.  He  related  that  he  had  arrived  in  Rome,  from  the 
Holy  Land,  having  in  his  possession  papers  which  had  belonged 
to  an  ecclesiastic  there.  Passing  himself  for  that  person,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  surprising  the  court  of  Rome  into  ordaining  and  con- 
secrating him  a  bishop.  The  fraud  was  afterwards  discovered, 
and  Kasner,  being  then  on  his  way  to  Palestine,  was  arrested,  and 
brought  to  the  prison  of  the  Holy  Office,  where  he  expected  to 
have  ended  his  days,  less,  as  he  expressed  himself,  to  expiate  his 
own  fraud,  than  the  gross  blunder  of  the  court  of  Rome,  which 
had  no  other  means  of  concealing  his  character  of  bishop,  its. 
own  absolute  laws  preventing  his  being  deprived  of  it. 

"  The  inventory  of  the  contents  of  the  ground-flat  being  finished 


THE  BLOOD  OF  SAINTS  IN  ROME.  315 

in  a  few  days,  it  was  then  thrown  open  to  the  impatient  curiosity 
of  the  public.  The  crowd  that  resorted  to  the  scene  was  very 
great,  and  the  public  indignation  rose  so  high,  that  there  was  a 
loud  and  general  cry  for  the  destruction  of  an  edifice  of  such 
detestable  memory.  This  feeling  was  so  strong,  that,  on  a  Sun- 
day afternoon,  in  March,  fagots  were  thrown  into  the  cellars  and 
other  under-ground  rooms,  with  the  intention  of  setting  fire  to 
the  building ;  and  this  would  have  been  accomplished,  had  not  a 
battalion  of  civic  guards  rushed  to  the  spot  from  the  Piazza  di  S. 
Pietro.  To  the  truth  of  all  that  is  here  related,  thousands,  both 
Italians  and  foreigners,  who  visited  the  place,  can  testify;  and 
there  exists  also  a  detailed  account  of  everything,  written  and 
solemnly  attested  vrith  legal  forms. 

"  Passing  to  the  upper  flat,  the  attention  of  the  government 
was  especially  directed  to  the  chancery  and  the  archives ;  the  first 
containing  all  the  current  afiairs  of  the  Inquisition ;  the  second, 
jealously  guarding  its  acts  from  its  institution  until  now.  Before 
commencing  the  catalogue  of  the  contents  of  the  chancery,  it  was 
resolved  to  remove  such  papers  as  might  disturb  or  compromise 
the  tranquillity  of  those  persons  who  had  had  relations  with  the 
Holy  Office. 

"  Attention  was  especially  directed  to  the  book  called  Soledta- 
zione  (it  contains  reports),  and  to  the  correspondence.  This  was 
done  by  order  of  the  government,  which  thereby  gave  another 
proof  of  that  moderation  which  its  enemies  deny  to  it.  There 
results,  from  a  careful  examination  of  these  documents,  which 
remain  for  the  inspection  of  such  as  desire  proofs,  that  the  past 
government  made  use  of  this  tribunal,  strictly  ecclesiastical  in  its 
institution,  also  for  temporal  and  political  objects;  and  that  the 
most  culpable  abuse  was  made  of  sacramental  confession,  espe- 
cially that  of  women,  rendering  it  subservient  both  to  political 
purposes  and  to  the  most  abominable  licentiousness.  It  can  be 
shown,  from  documents,  that  the  cardinals  secretaries  of  state 
wrote  to  the  commissary  to  the  assessor  of  the  Holy  Office  to  pro- 
cure information  as  to  the  conduct  of  suspected  individuals,  both 
at  home  and  abroad,  and  to  obtain  knowledge  of  state  secrets  by 
means  of  confession,  especially  those  of  foreign  courts  and  cabi- 
nets.    In  fact,  there  exist  long  correspondences,  and  voluminous 


316  THE  CHUECH  OF  THYATIRA. 

processes,  and  severe  sentences,  pronounced  upon  La  Giorine 
Ilalia,  La  Jeune  Suisse,  the  Masonic  societies  of  England  and 
Scotland,  and  the  anti-religious  sects  of  America,  &c.  There  is 
an  innumerable  quantity  of  information  and  processes  on  scanda- 
lous and  obscene  subjects,  in  which  the  members  of  regular  reli- 
gious societies  are  usually  implicated. 

"  Passing  from  the  chancery  to  the  archives,  which  is  in  the 
second  floor,  it  appeared  on  first  entering  as  if  everything  was  in 
its  usual  place )  but  on  further  inspection  it  was  found,  with  much 
astonishment,  that  though  the  labels  and  cases  were  in  their  places, 
they  were  emptied  of  the  packets  of  papers  and  documents  indi- 
cated by  the  inscriptions  without.  Some  conjecture  that  the 
missing  packets  have  been  carried  to  the  convent  Delia  Minerva, 
or  were  hidden  in  the  houses  of  private  persons ;  while  others 
suppose  that  they  were  burnt  by  the  Dominican  fathers.  This 
last  hypothesis  receives  weight  from  the  circumstance  that  in 
November,  184:8,  shortly  after  the  departure  of  the  Pope  from 
Rome,  the  civic  guard  came  in  much  haste  to  the  Holy  Office, 
from  having  observed  great  clouds  of  smoke  issuing  from  one  of 
its  chimneys,  accompanied  by  a  strong  smell  of  burnt  paper. 
But,  whatever  were  the  means,  the  fact  is  certain,  that  in  the 
archives  of  the  Inquisition  the  most  important  trials  were  not  to 
be  found;  such,  for  instance,  as  those  of  Galileo  Galilei  and  of 
Giordano  Bruno ;  nor  was  there  the  correspondence  regarding  the 
Beformation  in  England,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  nor  many 
other  precious  records.  There  remains,  however,  nearly  com- 
plete, a  collection  of  decrees,  beginning  with  the  year  1549,  down 
to  OUT  own  days.  They  are  divided  year  by  year,  each  volume 
containing  the  decrees  of  one  year.  Of  these,  of  all  that  was 
contained  in  the  chancery  and  the  archives  of  the  Holy  Office,  a 
catalogue  has  been  taken,  with  every  legal  formality  of  certifica- 
tion. It  ought  to  be  added,  that  after  the  abovementioned  threat 
of  setting  fire  to  the  Holy  Office,  it  was  unanimously  decreed  by 
the  Assembly,  that  instead  of  destroying  that  vast  edifice,  it 
should  be  portioned  into  dwellings  for  poor  families  of  Rome.  In 
consequence  of  this  decision  the  government  was  obliged  to  re- 
move all  the  papers  in  the  chancery  and  archives,  along  with 
three  libraries  existing  in  the  Holy  Office,  to  the  Palazzo  dell* 


THE  BLOOD  OF  SAINTS  IN  ROME.  317 

Apolinarc,  which  was  the  residence  assigned  to  the  Minister  of 
Finance. 

"  Of  these  three  libraries  one  was  private  property,  the  other 
two  belonged  to  the  Inquisiiion.  Of  these  last,  one  is  most  im- 
portant, containing  copies  of  the  original  editions  of  the  works  of 
the  Reformers  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  now 
become  extremely  rare.  The  other  is  of  less  consequence.  In  it 
are  many  recent  publications ;  and  it  appears  that  the  revisore 
(revisori')  at  the  custom-house  of  Rome  were  in  the  habit  of  ex- 
tracting books  consigned  to  the  booksellers  there,  without  making 
any  compensation. 

"  It  must  not  be  omitted  to  notice,  that  the  Holy  Office  had 
its  independent  revenue,  arising  from  gifts  of  state  property, 
chiefly  bestowed  by  Sixtus  V.  and  Pius  IV.,  amounting  clear  to 
about  8,000  scudi.  This  sum  was  chiefly  spent  in  paying  the 
monks  attached  to  the  Inquisition,  some  of  whom  received  con- 
siderable salaries.  In  the  above  income  is  not  included  the  money 
exacted  from  prisoners  as  board ;  the  account  of  what  was  paid, 
for  example,  by  the  famous  Abbess  of  Monte  Castrilli,  was  found 
to  be  3,000  scudi.  The  authorized  paid  agents  of  the  Holy  Office, 
called  patentali,  were  well  remunerated;  indeed,  this  was  a  sys- 
tem by  which  many  persons  were  demoralized  and  corrupted, 
whose  birth  and  education  should  have  removed  them  far  from 
such  a  base  and  guilty  traffic,  but  who  were  tempted,  perhaps,  by 
necessity. 

"  To  conclude.  In  a  few  categories  we  may  sum  up  the  results 
of  this  inquiry :  — 

"  1.  That  the  court  of  Rome  availed  itself  of  the  tribunal  of 
the  Holy  Office  for  temporal  and  political  ends. 

"  2.  That  to  succeed  in  its  purposes  the  Holy  Office  had,  espe- 
cially, recourse  to  confession,  of  which  it  made  the  most  enormous 
and  abominable  abuse,  not  only  violating  its  secresy,  but  tamper- 
ing with  its  integrity. 

^'3.  By  means  of  confession,  the  most  odious  licentiousness 
was  insinuated  in  the  confessionals.  With  this  branch  the  Holy 
Office  occupied  itself  with  extraordinary  diligence,  but  without 
finding  a  remedy  for  the  causes  of  such  scandal. 

27* 


318  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

"  4.  That  the  Holy  Office  corrupted  all  classes,  buying  infor- 
mation and  secrets. 

"5.  And  lastly.  That  the  ecclesiastical  nuncios  at  foreign  courts 
are  in  constant  correspondence  with  the  Holy  Office,  and,  from 
possessing  means  of  procuring  intelligence  quite  peculiar  to  them- 
selves, keep  the  court  of  Home  informed  of  the  most  hidden  po- 
litical secrets." 

So  fully  is  the  fact  illustrated  which  is  announced  at  the  close 
of  this  chapter,  that  whilst  by  her  sorceries  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth  were  deceived,  "  in  her  was  found,"  as  I  shall  still  further 
prove,  "  the  blood  of  prophets  and  of  saints,  and'of  them  that 
were  slain  on  the  earth." 

The  next  document  to  which  I  will  refer  is  a  private  letter, 
which  contains  an  account  of  all  that  was  discovered  in  the  In- 
quisition, by  one  who  made  a  personal  visit  to  it. 

"  I  visited  lately  the  works  going  on  in  the  subterranean  vaults 
of  the  Holy  Office,  and  was  not  a  little  horrified  at  what  I  saw 
with  my  own  eyes,  and  held  in  my  own  hands. 

"Though  I  have  been  familiar  with  everything  in  and  about 
Rome  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  I  confess  I  never  had  any  cu- 
riosity to  visit  the  Inquisition,  taking  it  for  granted  that  every- 
thing was  carried  on  there  fairly  and  honestly,  as  I  was  led  to 
believe  by  people  worthy,  in  other  respects,  of  implicit  truth. 
Besides,  the  place  itself  is  out  of  the  beaten  track  of  all  strangers, 
and  in  a  sort  of  cul  de  sac  behind  St.  Peter's,  where  it  naturally 
retired  to  perform  its  blushing  operations,  and  '  do  good  by 
stealth.'  I  was  struck  with  the  outward  appearance  of  civiliza- 
tion and  comfort  displayed  by  the  building,  which  owes  its  erec- 
tion to  Pius  IV.,  author  of  the  last  creed ;  but,  on  entering,  the 
real  character  of  the  concern  was  no  longer  dissimulated.  A 
range  of  strongly-barred  prisons  formed  the  ground-floor  of  a 
quadrangular  court,  and  these  dark  and  damp  receptacles  I  found 
were  only  the  preliminary  stage  of  probation,  intended  for  new- 
comers as  yet  uninitiated  into  the  Eleusinian  mysteries  of  the 
establishment.  Entering  a  passage  to  the  left,  you  arrive  at  a 
smaller  courtyard,  where  a  triple  row  of  small  barred  dungeons 
rises  from  the  soil  upwards,  somewhat  after  the  outward  look  of  a 
three-decker,    'accommodating'   about    sixty  prisoners.     These 


THE  BLOOD  OF  SAINTS  IN  ROME.  319 

barred  cages  must  have  been  often  fully  manned,  for  there  is  a 
supplementary  row  constructed  at  the  back  of  the  quadrangle,  on 
the  ground-floor,  which  faces  a  large  garden.  All  these  cellular 
contrivances  have  strong  iron  rings  let  into  the  masonry,  and  in 
some  there  is  a  large  stone  firmly  imbedded  in  the  centre,  with  a 
similar  massive  ring.  Numerous  inscriptions,  dated  centuries 
back,  are  dimly  legible  on  the  admission  of  light,  the  general 
tenor  being  assertion  of  innocence :  '  Iddio  ci  liheri  di  lingua 
calumniatrice,'  '  lo  domenico  Gazzoli  vissi  qui  anni  18,'  *  Cci' 
lumniatores  mendaces  exterminahuniur'  I  read  another  some- 
what longer,  the  drift  of  which  is,  *  The  caprice  or  wickedness 
of  man  cannot  exclude  me  from  thy  church,  0  Christ,  my  only 
hope.'  The  officer  in  charge  led  me  down  to  where  the  men 
were  digging  in  the  vaults  below ;  they  had  cleared  a  downward 
flight  of  steps,  which  was  choked  up  with  old  rubbish,  and  had 
come  to  a  series  of  dungeons  under  the  vaults,  deeper  still,  and 
which  immediately  brought  to  my  mind  the  prisons  of  the  Doge, 
under  the  canal  of  the  Bridge  of  Sighs,  at  Venice,  only  that  here 
there  was  a  surpassing  horror.  I  saw  imbedded  in  old  masonry, 
unsymmetrically  arranged,  five  skeletons  in  various  recesses,  and 
the  clearance  had  only  just  begun  :  the  period  of  their  insertion 
in  this  spot  must  have  been  more  than  a  century  and  a  half. 
From  another  vault,  full  of  sculls  and  scattered  human  remains, 
there  was  a  shaft,  about  four  feet  square,  ascending  perpendicu- 
larly to  the  first  floor  of  the  building,  and  ending  in  a  passage  off 
the  hall  of  the  chancery,  where  a  trap-door  lay  between  the  tri- 
bunal and  the  way  into  a  suite  of  rooms  destined  for  one  of  the 
officials.  The  object  of  this  shaft  could  admit  of  but  one  sur- 
mise. The  ground  of  the  vault  was  made  up  of  decayed  animal 
matter,  a  lump  of  which  held  imbedded  in  it  a  long,  silken  lock 
of  hair,  as  I  found  by  personal  examination,  as  it  was  shovelled 
up  from  below.  Why  or  wherefore,  with  a  large  space  of  vacant 
ground  lying  outside  the  structure,  this  charnel-house  should  be 
contrived  under  the  dwelling,  passes  my  ken.  But  that  is  not 
all ;  there  are  two  large  subterranean  limekilns,  if  I  may  so  call 
them,  shaped  like  a  bee-hive,  in  masonry,  filled  with  layers  of 
calcined  bones,  forming  the  substratum  of  two  other  chambers  on 
the  ground-floor,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  very  mysterious 


320  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

shaft  above  mentioned.    I  know  not  what  interest  you  may  attach 

to  what  looks  like  a  chapter  from  Mrs.  Radcliffe,  but  had  I  not 

the  evidence  of  my  own  senses,  I  would  never  have  dreamt  of 

such  appearances  in  a  prison  of  the  Holy  Office ;  being  thoroughly 

sick  of  the  nonsense  that  has,  for  years,  been  put  forth  on  that 

topic  by  partisan  pens.     But  here  the  thing  will  become  serious, 

for  to-morrow  the  whole  population  of  Rome  is  publicly  invited 

by  the  authorities  to  come  and  see  with  their  own  eyes  one  of 

the  results  of  entrusting  power  to  clerical  hands.     Libels  on  the 

clergy  have  been  manifold  during  the  last  four  months,  and  have 

done  their  work  among  the  masses.     But  mere  talk  is  nothing  to 

the  actual  view  of  realities.    •'•  -    " 

" '  Segnius  irritant  animos  domissa  per  anres 
Quam  quae  sunt  oculis  Bubjecta  fidelibns.' 

"  The  archives  (wanting  the  very  recent  ones  only)  have  been 
overhauled,  and  a  selection  will  be  forthwith  published.  The 
cases  are  of  the  most  intense  interest,  reaching  from  Galileo's 
time  down  to  modern  days;  and  here  most  disgraceful  letters 
from  the  Sardinian  and  Neapolitan  courts,  including  a  choice  cor- 
respondence from  the  Duke  of  Modena,  will  be  given  verbatim, 
in  extenso.  Latterly  the  concern  had  become  almost  exclusively 
political,  and  only  busied  itself  with  Carbonari  and  Freemasons, 
under  which  terms  every  aspirant  after  a  constitutional  form  of 
government  was  thought  fair  game,  and  hunted  out  secundum 
artem." — Correspondent  of  Daily  News. 

Many  of  the  Romans,  it  is  stated  on  other  authority,  visited 
the  scene,  and  were  pained  and  shocked  as  they  read  the  various 
complaining  and  sorrowful  inscriptions  which  covered  the  walls ; 
and  as  they  noticed  the  various  provisions  for  secret  murder,  they 
exclaimed,  "  Is  this  the  Christian  faith  ?" 

No  wonder  that  such  a  question  should  be  asked.  One  wonders 
how,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  whose  whole  life  was 
beneficence,  and  love,  and  mercy,  whose  every  doctrine  breathes 
goodness  and  tenderness,  such  horrid  cruelties  should  be  perpe- 
trated against  any,  much  more  against  the  saints  of  the  Most 
High.  One  of  the  most  awful  mysteries  of  this  mysterious  world 
is,  that  in  such  a  name,  and  under  the  pretence  of  such  auspices, 
and  with  the  book  that  is  all  light,  and  love,  and  truth  in  their 


THE  BLOOD  OF  SAINTS  IN  ROME.  321 

possession,  crimes  should  have  been  committed  by  its  professed 
believers  which  shock  humanity  and  cry  to  heaven  for  vengeance. 
In  the  Gospel  and  around  the  cross,  "  mercy  and  truth  have  met 
together,  righteousness  ^nd  peace  have  kissed  each  other ;"  but 
in  Rome  and  around  the  Vatican  it  may  truly  be  said,  that 
"  cruelty  and  murder  have  met  together,  rapine  and  bloodshed 
have  embraced  and  kissed  each  other." 

Yet  awful  as  such  facts  are,  they  are,  I  believe,  but  the  begin- 
ning of  these  terrible  disclosures.  Another  fact  has  come  out, 
no  less  startling  than  some  which  I  have  stated.  It  appears  that 
the  secretary  of  the  Inquisition  has  escaped  from  the  power  of 
those  who  placed  him  there,  and  is  preparing  to  publish  in  France 
documents  which  they  say  will  startle  all  Europe. 

''  The  long  pi'omised  assault  on  the  ancient  doctrines  of  the 
Romish  Church  is  announced  for  Saturday  next,  and  you  may 
judge  with  what  interest  the  conference  is  looked  forward  to  by 
all  classes.  The  work  of  the  Abbate  Leone  is  now  completed, 
and  will  be  read  and  commented  on  in  a  public  siance.  It  is 
anticipated  that  his  apparition  as  preacher  of  a  new  doctrine  will 
cause  more  emotion  than  any  event  of  the  kind  since  the  days 
of  Luther.  The  Catholic  world  is  ripe  for  a  reform,  and  anything 
presenting  the  appearance  of  a  just  and  salutary  change  will  be 
eagerly  caught  at.  The  history  of  Leone  is  curious  and  interest- 
ing. He  is  of  a  good  Roman  family,  and  was  from  his  earliest 
youth  devoted  to  solitude  and  study.  Being  an  orphan  from  his 
childhood,  he  was  allowed  to  follow  the  bent  of  his  own  inclina- 
tions, and  entered  the  church  at  the  age  of  nineteen.  He  then 
became  attached  to  the  Pope  as  librarian,  and  for  fifteen  years  he 
never  set  his  foot  outside  the  Vatican,  living  entirely  in  the  sec- 
tion of  theology,  belonging  to  the  library  of  the  little  closet  close 
beside  it,  where  he  slept.  His  whole  time  was  thus  devoted  to 
the  research  of  ancient  authors;  and  he  has  been  known  to  spend 
three  days  and  nights  without  .sleep  in  poring  over  some  half- 
defaced  manuscript,  or  in  interpreting  some  correspondence  in 
ciphers,  in  which  science  he  has  become  a  perfect  adept.  It  was 
thus  that  he  became  acquainted  with  all  the  secret  machinations 
of  the  Church,  and  with  all  the  intrigues  by  which  she  has  main- 
tained to  this  hour  such  unbounded  influence  over  the  kingdoms 


322  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

of  Europe  which  still  own  her  sway.  The  Abbate  became  terri- 
fied at  the  discovery  of  the  vast  system  of  corruption  of  which 
fate  had  made  him  an  abettor — he  hastened  to  abjure  his  vows 
and  fly  from  Rome.  He  next  took  up  his  abode  at  Turin,  in 
order  to  examine  with  attention  the  system  upon  which  the 
Jesuits  were  then  acting.  Two  attempts  to  murder  him  by  poison 
caused  him  to  come  to  Paris  about  six  months  ago.  He  has  ever 
since  that  time  been  employed  in  finishing  the  work  which  is  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  a  new  form  of  religion,  or  rather  of  a  prac- 
tical theory,  by  which  the  Gospel  is  to  be  displayed  in  action  as 
well  as  in  words." 

I  have  thus  then  confined  your  attention  to  one  prediction 
declared  in  this  chapter,  that  at  the  time  of  the  consumption  of 
Babylon  there  should  be  found  and  exposed  in  her  the  proofs  and 
traces  of  her  multiplied  and  sanguinary  crimes.  I  think  that  the 
parallelism  drawn  between  this  chapter  and  the  facts  I  related  in 
last  lecture,  and  between  these  verses  and  the  mere  abstract  of 
facts  which  I  have  given  in  this,  present  together  the  highest 
probability  that  the  position  I  have  endeavoured  to  support,  viz. 
that  great  Babylon  with  her  cruelties  and  crimes  is  coming  into 
sight  before  man  and  into  remembrance  before  God,  is  alike  cor- 
rect and  significant.  We  are  now  coming  under  the  seventh  vial 
more  or  less  rapidly.  We  stand  at  the  commencement  of  judg- 
ments which  will  shake  all  the  earth,  but  also  usher  in  the  mil- 
lennial glory  in  its  blessedness  and  beauty. 

My  first  desire  in  these  observations  is,  to  turn  your  eyes  to 
the  signs  of  the  times.  Our  Lord  blames  the  Pharisees  for  not 
distinguishing  them ;  for  he  says,  *'  When  it  is  evening  ye  say, 
We  shall  have  fair  weather,  for  the  sky  is  red ;  and  in  the  morn- 
ing ye  say.  It  will  be  foul  weather  to-day,  for  the  sky  is  red  and 
lowering.  Ye  hypocrites,  ye  can  discern  the  faces  of  the  sky,  but 
can  ye  not  discern  the  signs  of  the  times  ?"  We,  too,  may  be 
guilty  of  the  like  apathy  and  neglect.  Let  us  then  watch.  The 
hour  of  the  Redeemer's  advent  no  man  can  specify,  nor  can  any 
one  declare  the  day  of  the  commencement  of  millennial  glory, — this 
is  beyond  our  vision ;  but  the  signs  of  the  dawn  of  the  latter, 
the  sounds  of  the  footstep  of  the  former,  every  reader  of  the 
Bible  is  warned  to  note  and  listen  to,  to  ponder,  and  patiently 


THE  BLOOD  OF  SAINTS  IN  ROME.  323 

hope  for.  Surely,  if  moral  confusion  in  the  social  atmosphere  of 
nations,  and  physical  derangement  in  the  atmosphere  we  breathe, 
show  that  God  is  rising  out  of  his  place  to  punish  the  inhabitants 
of  the  earth,  it  is  impossible  to  be  indifferent.  Surely,  blessed 
are  they  who,  in  such  a  crisis,  wait  and  look  and  pray,  and  amid 
such  awful  events,  and  deepening  shadows,  and  distress  of 
nations,  and  men's  hearts  failing  them  for  fear  of  what  is  coming 
on  the  earth,  walk  closer  with  God,  and  seek  their  safety  under 
the  covert  of  his  wings. 

Another  object  I  have  aimed  at  in  these  two  last  lectures  has 
been  to  show  you  the  external  evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  word 
of  God,  Events  are  gathering  round  it  like  witnesses  waiting  to 
attest  it  —  facts  are  coming  on  the  world's  stage,  crowding  toge- 
ther in  order  to  fulfil  its  predictions;  all  things  and  men — dynas- 
ties and  kings  —  pestilence  and  war,  are  giving  utterance  to  the 
cry  loud  and  piercing,  till  sceptics  listen — "  Thy  word,  0  God,  is 
truth."  The  occurrences  of  every  day  are  fulfilling  the  prophe- 
cies of  every  century,  and  history  is  recording  prophecies  in  their 
ultimate  issues  on  its  tablets.  Year  after  year  the  evidence 
becomes  brighter  as  the  drama  thickens,  that  this  blessed  book 
has  God  for  its  author,  and  truth  for  its  matter.  St.  John  wrote 
the  prediction  —  Europe  cries  aloud,  "  It  is  done."  The  nine- 
teenth century  is  filling  up  the  outline  sketched  in  the  first. 

My  third  design  has  been  to  enable  you  to  see  God  yet  more 
vividly  in  the  world.  Dynasties  have  their  missions,  and  now 
unconsciously  fulfil  them  —  revolutions  their  time,  their  lessons 
and  their  use,  though  their  agents  suspect  it  not;  all  events  and 
facts  and  phenomena  —  all  flashes  and  convulsions  and  tumults, 
are  the  gleams  of  the  glory  of  God  as  he  passeth  by.  He  is  him- 
self arranging  or  controlling  them ;  he  sits  above  the  floods ;  he 
determines  the  rise  and  fall  of  all ;  he  is  as  truly  present  at  Rome 
at  this  moment,  as  he  was  amid  the  host  of  Sennacherib,  or  when 
he  humbled  the  proud  monarch  of  Babylon,  or  when  he  thun- 
dered from  Sinai  or  shone  in  the  burning  bush  :  mountains  still 
quake  —  bushes  still  burn —  kings  are  still  struck  down.  Those 
events  rapidly  succeeding  each  other  at  Rome  are  stages  and 
chapters  in  that  history  which  God  is  writing  on  the  earth;  they 
are  a  part  of  that  glorious  procession  which  prophets  saw  from 


324  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA/^ 

afar  and  proclaimed  to  be  sure  as  the  east  and  west,  and  fixed  as 
the  nadir  and  zenith.  "  The  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become 
the  kingdoms  of  our  God  and  of  his  Christ." 

It  has  also  been  my  object  and  desire  to  encourage  nij-^elf  and 
you  by  the  prospect  of  the  glories  of  the  latter  day.  The  down- 
fall of  Babylon  is  immediately  preliminary  to  the  glories  of  the 
latter  day.  The  angels  in  heaven  are  represented  as  rejoicing  at 
its  ruin,  and  the  saints  as  praising  God  for  the  terrible  catas- 
trophe. It  has  been  the  prayer  of  believers  in  their  homes,  and 
of  suiFerers  in  the  flames,  for  a  thousand  years,  that  God  would 
hasten  the  destruction  of  that  system  which  has  hallowed  igno- 
rance, calling  it  "the  mother  of  devotion,"  and  consecrated 
cruelty  as  if  it  were  mercy ;  which  has  built  inquisitions,  evange- 
lized with  the  sword,  plundered  the  widow  and  raised  cathedrals 
with  the  spoils,  and  chanted  at  the  close  her  Te  Deums,  as  if 
glorifying  God  and  fulfilling  the  mission  of  the  Gospel  to  mankind. 
I  believe  that  her  last  judgments  have  overtaken  her,  that  the 
might  of  the  last  hour  of  Babylon  is  upon  her;  that  she  is 
drinking  now  of  the  first  drops  of  the  cup  of  the  fierceness  of 
God's  great  wrath  :  and  if  the  beginning  be  so  bitter,  what  must 
the  end  be  ?  If  angels,  apostles,  and  martyrs  rejoice  over  her 
fall  in  heaven — if  God  command  his  people  to  rejoice  at  her  ruin 
on  earth,  surely  it  cannot  be  unscriptural,  or  unedifying,  to  pro- 
claim the  fact  that  her  days  are  numbered,  and  that  the  hour  of 
her  judgment  is  come. 

My  last  design  is  to  lead  you,  amidst  the  gathering  clouds  of 
the  sky  above,  and  amidst  the  accumulating  judgments  of  the 
earth  below,  to  make  sure  that  you  have  fled  to  that  glorious 
refuge  of  which  Christ  is  the  centre,  the  circumference,  the  roof, 
the  walls,  the  foundation ;  in  which  no  tribulation  shall  scathe 
you,  nor  judgment  overtake  you.  Let  the  precious  blood  of  the 
Lamb  be  realized  by  you  all  as  it  never  was  realized  before,  as 
the  only  element  of  reconciliation  and  of  peace.  When  the 
Israelite  of  old  fled  into  the  city  of  refuge,  and  heard  the  rush 
of  the  wing  of  the  destroying  angel  as  he  swept  through  the 
street  in  which  he  dwelt,  that  Israelite,  no  doubt,  trembled  and 
feared,  but  the  blood  was  on  the  threshold  and  the  angel  dared 
not  enter  to  destroy,  not  because  the  individual's  confidence  was 


THE  BLOOD  OF  SAINTS  IN  ROME.  825 

great,  but  because  the  blood  of  the  lamb  upon  the  threshold  was 
all-sufficient;  we  may  tremble,  fear,  doubt,  question — sinful  as 
this  is — but,  blessed  be  God,  our  safety  from  judgment  reposes, 
not  upon  the  strength  of  our  faith,  but  upon  the  preciousness  of 
that  blood  which  the  Spirit  of  God  has  sprinkled  upon  our  hearts 
My  dear  friends,  have  you  fled  to  that  refuge  ?  Is  vital  religion 
your  great  concern?  Is  real,  spiritual  prayer  your  constant  and 
your  daily  resource  ?  Is  God's  glory,  the  great  object  of  your 
life  ?  Is  God's  word  your  only  directory  ?  Is  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
God  your  only  sanctifier?  Let  me  ask  you,  in  one  word,  are  you 
Christians  ? — living,  believing,  confiding,  praying,  living  Chris- 
tians ?  Churchmen  will  be  scattered  to  the  winds ;  Dissenters 
will  be  ground  to  powder;  sectarians  of  all  sorts  will  be  utterly 
crushed ;  but  they  whose  robe  is  the  righteousness  of  Emmanuel 
— whose  shelter  is  the  blood  of  the  Lamb — whose  hope  is  in  his 
word,  are  as  safe  as  if  the  everlasting  hills  were  around  them,  and 
the  broad  shield  of  omnipotence  spread  over  them.  I  ask  you 
again,  my  dear  friends,  are  you  the  people  of  God  ?  Do  not  put 
off  a  moment  at  such  a  crisis;  you  know  not  what  judgments  are 
on  the  wing ;  you  know  not  what  events  may  be  at  our  very  doors. 
The  whole  air  is  charged  with  plague  and  war  and  battle.  The 
warning  has  been  sounded,  "  Prepare  to  meet  thy  God ;"  pre- 
pare by  living  with  God,  by  living  near  to  him — by  rising  above 
things  seen — by  delighting  in  his  word,  and  doing  his  will  and 
work — by  praying  for  his  peace  to  keep  you,  his  blessing  to  em- 
bosom you,  and  finally,  his  glory  to  receive  you.  May  his  right- 
eousness be  our  shelter !  May  his  blood  be  our  common  and 
our  exclusive  trust !  May  we  be  found  in  him  when  the  judg- 
ment comes ;  and  when  Antichrist  and  they  that  are  his  shall 
be  cast  like  a  millstone  into  the  depths  of  the  unsounded  sea,  may 
we,  and  all  that  are  near  and  dear  to  us,  meet  together  before  the 
throne  to  part  no  more.  The  Lord  add  his  blessing,  and  forgive 
the  imperfections  of  speaking  and  hearing,  for  Jesus'  sake. 
Amen. 

P.  S.  —  The  following  are  two  of  the  many  significant  docu- 
ments which  have  lately  issued  from  Rome.  The  first  is  pub- 
lished by  the  Gircoh  Popolare  :  — 

28 


326  THE  CHURCH  OP  THYATIRA. 

"  Avidity  of  power,  the  foiolish  ambition  of  a  small  and  puerile 
mind,  weighed  more  with  you  than  the  love  of  the  people  and 
the  sentiments  of  humanity.  And  what  is  now  most  apparent  in 
you  ?  Is  it  not  love  of  rule  and  unmeasured  desire  of  temporal 
power  ?  Your  natural  disposition  and  character  are  now  plain 
to  the  whole  world.  We  can  aflford  to  smile,  in  these  days,  at 
words  such  as  the  right  of  sovereignty  inherent  in  the  apostolio 
chair,  and  in  the  holy  Koman  Church.  Every  one  knows  that 
the  apostles  had  no  sovereignty ;  and  no  one  who  calls  himself  a 
successor  of  the  apostles  can  have  any  either.  That  a  chair 
should  have  such  a  sovereignty  is  a  most  strange  thing,  and  re- 
minds us  of  the  fable  where  Jove  gives  a  log  to  be  king  of  tho 
frogs.  This  language  cannot  be  borne.  Let  us  see  if  any  such 
right  of  sovereignty  belongs  to  the  Church.  We  deny  it,  in  the 
words  of  the  Testament  of  its  Divine  Founder.  If  he  has  said, 
and  left  it  in  writing,  that  he,  the  true  Head  of  this  Church, 
would  have  no  kingdom  of  this  world,  it  comes  of  sequence  that 
no  imitator  or  follower  of  his  can  claim  any  such  right  in  his 
name.  Christ,  whom  we  worship,  warned  his  disciples  not  to 
assume  to  themselves  any  title  of  dominion  over  the  people,  aa 
this  was  the  prerogative  of  the  kings  of  the  Gentiles,  who,  in 
order  to  exercise  authority  over  them,  are  called  benefactors; 
'  But  ye,'  he  said,  *  shall  not  be  so.'  (Luke  xxii.  25,  26.)  You 
would  be  king,  in  order  to  receive  tribute  from  your  people ;  and 
the  more  they  paid  you,  the  more  you  called  them  your  most 
dear  children.  Have  you  ever  read,  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mat- 
thew, the  dialogue  between  Jesus  Christ  and  St.  Peter  ?  You 
will  find  it  at  chapter  xvii.  25.  These  are  the  words :  — '  When 
he  was  come  into  the  house,  Jesus  prevented  him,  saying.  What 
thinkest  thou,  Simon  ?  of  whom  do  the  kings  of  the  earth  take 
custom  or  tribute  ?  of  their  own  children,  or  of  strangers  ? 
Peter  saith  unto  him,  Of  strangers.  Jesus  saith  unto  him, 
Then  are  the  children  free.'  This  proves  that  children  and 
subjects  are  not  one.  How,  then,  dare  you,  calling  yourself  tho 
Vicar  of  Christ,  overthrow  the  Gospel,  and  make  us  both  subjects 
and  sons  ?  And  this  you  pretend  to  do  by  the  power  of  the 
Church.  You  have  changed  this  word  Church  to  make  it  stand 
for  ambition  and  cupidity.     While  the  Church  was  purely  Chris- 


THE  BLOOD  OF  SAINTS  IN  ROME.  327 

tian,  she  had- no  other  possessions  than  those  of  religion  —  faith 
and  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord.  Since  she  become  Popish  (papisfd) 
she  no  more  heeded  these  heavenly  treasures,  but  turned  her 
mind  to  worldly  lusts,  and  became  the  slave  of  riches  and  of 
povirer.  If  we  were  not  able  to  distinguish  between  Church  and 
Religion,  we  should  be  led  to  believe  that  Keligion  herself  had 
fallen  from  her  own  teaching,  since  in  the  Church  we  see  so 
many  contradictions  that  we  cannot  tell  whether  it  is  the  Church 
of  Christ  or  his  adversary.  And,  amongst  other  things,  we  hap- 
pen to  know  what  is  the  true  meaning  of  this  word  Church,  which 
you  and  your  acolytes  repeat  to  us  at  every  moment.  Our  parish 
priest,  we  remember,  used  to  teach  us  in  the  Catechism,  that 
Church  means  an  assembly  or  congregation  of  believers;  and 
since  we  are  the  believers,  who  assemble  ourselves,  so  we  thought 
that  we  were,  properly  speaking,  the  Roman  Church,  which  is 
holy  if  we  are  holy,  and  apostolic  if  we  have  the  doctrine  and 
spirit  of  the  apostles.  What  the  priests  are,  we  are  also  taught — 
viz.  elders  and  ministers  of  this  church,  having  a  chief  who  is 
called  a  Bishop,  that  is,  a  president  or  inspector.  Now,  then, 
who  shall  dare  to  take  from  Christian  people  the  titles  and  the 
privileges  of  the  Christian  Church  ?  The  priests,  forsooth,  and 
their  inspector  !  If  so,  we,  the  Church,  will  punish  them  for  this 
their  arrogance,  and  with  good  reason  will  deprive  them  of  the 
exercise  of  their  ministry,  calling  others  to  their  place,  and  doing 
as  our  fathers  did,  excommunicating  the  unruly,  be  they  priests 
or  bishops.  It  is  our  duty  to  watch  over  the  rights  of  our 
Church,  and  the  bishops  and  priests  must  carry  out  our  will.  If 
our  fathers  granted  to  the  chief  priest  of  Rome  the  privilege  of 
governing  the  society,  we  by  the  same  right  can  deprive  him  of 
it.  The  sister  churches  of  France,  of  Austria,  and  of  Spain 
may,  for  the  same  reason,  turn  their  chief  priests  into  a  king, 
an  emperor,  or  a  president,  if  they  choose ;  we  do  not  meddle 
with  their  affairs,  and  we  demand  that  they  should  leave  us  alone. 
"  To  you  who,  dethroned  by  the  inscrutable  providence  of 
God,  persist  still  in  raising  such  an  uproar,  we  will  submit  some 
considerations,  old  and  new,  as  reasons  for  what  has  occurred. 
First — Because,  after  the  manner  of  kings,  you  have  abused  the 
people,  by  oppressing  them  and  ill-using  them,  and  have  done 


328  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

this,  moreover,  in  the  name  of  St.  Peter  and  of  Christ.  Second 
—  Because,  in  the  government  of  this  realm,  bishops  and  priests 
were  employed,  so  that  the  Church,  instead  of  having  good  min- 
isters to  watch  over  the  Christian  flock,  was  neglected  and  over- 
looked; the  government  monopolised  all  the  talent,  while  the  in- 
ferior priests  were  entrusted  with  the  care  of  the  Church.  The 
government  was  conducted  by  court  intrigue,  and  arts  and  tricks 
of  cabinets  —  the  Church  taught  false  doctrines  and  a  supersti- 
tious worship.  The  first  care  was  given  to  the  heaping  up  of  gold 
and  silver,  but  none  bestowed  to  giving  to  the  Church  the  truths 
of  the  word  of  God.  Hence,  activity  and  vigilance  amongst  car- 
dinals an(i  prelates  —  idleness  and  carelessness  amongst  mass- 
sayers.  The  one  given  up  to  luxury  and  gluttony,  the  others  to 
want  and  misery.         *         *         * 

"  We  hold  the  religion  of  Christ  dear,  because  we  believe  it  to 
be  true,  saving,  and  holy.  But  this  religion,  which  is  none  other 
than  faith  in  Christ,  by  which  we  are  justified  before  God  and 
forgiven  all  our  sins,  can  well  exist  without  bishops  and  priests. 
This  religion  of  faith,  professed  by  many  persons  in  all  parts  of 
the  world,  constitutes  that  invisible  Church  of  believers  which  is 
universal,  whose  head  and  pontiflF  and  priest  is  and  can  only  be 
Jesus  Christ.  To  every  man  who  belongs  to  this  Church  apper- 
tain all  the  great  promises  which  we  read  in  the  Gospel.  In  this 
Church  there  is  neither  hierarchy,  nor  aristocracy,  but  only  God 
and  people,  and  Christ  the  mediator  and  intercessor.  This  in- 
visible and  spiritual  Church  does  not  prevent  the  existence  of 
another  Church,  visible  and  material,  which  is  divided  into  as 
many  fractions  as  there  are  nations  and  languages;  and  these 
again  are  subdivided  into  smaller  fractions ;  and  it  is  possible  for 
one  country  to  contain  many  Churches,  in  the  liberty  which  every 
man  has  to  choose  that  which  best  suits  him.         *         *         * 

"  Who  is  the  bishop  of  the  Church  of  the  Waldenses,  in  the 
kingdom  of  Piedmont?  No  one.  Yet  it  is  a  Christian  Church, 
full  of  fervour,  established  there  at  the  end  of  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury, and  which,  after  most  cruel  persecution,  and  slaughter  and 
massacre,  presents  to  us  at  this  moment  a  body  of  24,000 
believers.         *         *         * 

"  Observe,  that  those  who  were  formerly  asleep  are  now  awake  ; 


THE  BLOOD  OF  SAINTS  IN  ROME,  329 

and  those  on  whom  you  formerly  imposed,  no  longer  believe  what 
you  say.  When  you  quitted  Rome,  the  Bible  entered  it  —  the 
Bible,  so  long  persecuted  by  Popes.  Both  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
and  the  holy  letters  of  the  Apostles,  faithfully  translated  into 
Italian,  are  now  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  who  read  them,  and 
there  they  find  neither  Poperi/  nor  Pope.  Take  care  that  you  do 
not  meet  with  the  same  fate  in  Italy  which  your  predecessors  met 
with  out  of  it,  who,  aiming  at  too  much,  lost  all.  The  men  who 
in  February  last  deprived  you  of  temporal  power  intended  to 
better  your  condition  in  spiritual  things.  From  the  30th  of 
April,  up  to  this  day,  you  have  laid  aside  every  pledge,  broken 
all  friendship,  and  violated  every  law,  by  presenting  yourself 
before  the  walls  of  Rome  amidst  muskets  and  cannons;  and  you 
have  announced  to  this  city  your  return,  your  solemn  ingress, 
with  shells  and  incendiary  violence,  in  the  midst  of  the  dead  and 
wounded.  Is  this  the  duty  of  a  bishop  ?  —  this  the  return 
amongst  us  of  the  pretended  vicar  of  Jesus  Christ  ?  Would  he 
retain  such  a  vicar  at  his  post  ? — should  the  Church  of  Rome  re- 
ceive such  a  bishop  ?         *         *         * 

"  In  vain  do  you  exaggerate  the  disorders  of  this  our  govern- 
ment, and  with  foul  language  descend  to  words  of  contumely, 
calling  Rome  '  a  den  of  raging  beasts,'  and  those  who  inhabit  it, 
'apostates,  heretics,  teachers  of  Communism  and  Socialism,  who 
endeavour  to  disseminate  pestiferous  error  of  all  kinds,  to  corrupt 
the  heart  and  the  mind  of  all  men.'  *  *  * 

"  To  apostatize  from  you,  and  to  return  to  Jesus  Christ  and 
his  Apostles,  is  that  which  we  desire  for  ourselves  and  for  our 
children ;  and  if  these  are  the  errors  which  '  corrupt  the  heart 
and  the  mind  of  all  men,'  blessed  are  we  who  from  such  error 
are  able  to  learn  truth,  and  from  such  darkness  to  receive  light. 
'But  woe  unto  you,  hypocrites  and  pharisees,  who  call  evil 
good,  and  good  evil  —  who  call  light  darkness,  and  darkness 
light.'  *  *  * 

"  Giovanni  Mastai,  how  long  will  you  insult  your  country,  and 
she  bear  with  you  ?  You,  allied  to  kings  in  order  to  betray  the 
people;  bound  in  special  amity  to  the  Neapolitan  Bourbon,  to 
learn  from  him  how  to  oppress  every  generous  soul,  and  to  extin- 
guish in  the  sons  of  Italy  every  noble  sentiment.     Oh,  senseless 

28* 


330  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

wc  !  tbat  wc  should  ever  have  believed  you,  ever  have  applauded 
your  feigned  promises  and  ephemeral  concessions,  to  find  ourselves 
now  deluded  in  our  hopes,  and  cheated  of  our  happiness !  If 
you  appeal  to  the  religion  of  the  canons,  we  stand  by  the  holy 
religion  of  the  Gospel :  you  belie  it, — we  are  faithful  to  God  and 
to  his  Christ.  Yes,  we  believe  in  the  Christ  of  God,  and  our 
faith  daily  increases  on  comparing  his  doctrine  with  our  practice. 
The  more  we  disbelieve  you,  the  more  we  are  led  to  see  that  we 
ought  to  believe  him !  He  is  the  free  Saviour  of  his  people ; 
you,  an  oppressor  and  a  destroyer.  He  taught  us  to  bless  those 
who  curse,  and  to  do  good  to  those  who  hate  us,  to  pray  for  those 
who  despitefully  use  us  and  persecute  us.  (Matt.  v.  44.)  He 
was  given  by  God  not  to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  the  world 
by  him  might  be  saved.  (John  iii.  17.)  He  declares  that  he  is 
not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost. 
(Luke  xix.  10.)  You  began  by  cursing  those  who,  to  the  last, 
had  blessed  you ;  by  hating  those  who  had  done  you  good,  and 
by  despitefully  using  and  persecuting  those  who  had  prayed  for 
you.  You,  who  alone  might  have  saved  our  country,  and  re- 
deemed it  from  its  lost  condition,  have  joined  yourself  to  her 
enemies  to  condemn  and  to  destroy  her." 

PROTEST    OF    ITALIAN    RESIDENTS    IN    LONDON    AGAINST 
POPERY. 

"  Last  evening,  August  5,  1849,  a  meeting  of  Italians  resident 
in  the  metropolis  was  held  at  the  Western  Literary  Institution, 
Leicester-square,  '  for  the  discussion  of  the  religious  questions 
involved  in  the  present  state  of  Italy,  and  of  urging  the  Italian 
people  to  protest  no  longer  against  the  Pope  merely,  but  against 
the  system  of  Popery  itself.'  The  proceedings  were  conducted 
according  to  the  rules  of  public  meetings  in  Italy,  and  were 
throughout  of  the  most  remarkable  character.  The  speakers 
addressed  the  audience  in  the  Italian  language.  The  ladies,  of 
whom  a  large  number  were  present,  took  an  active  part  in  the 
discussion  of  the  questions  brought  under  consideration,  many 
of  them  rising  to  make  observations  on  the  respective  addresses. 
Signor  G.  T.  Vignati  took  the  chair,  and  the  meeting  was  ad- 
dressed by  the  Cavalier  Fenzi,  Signor  Raflfaello  di  Roma,  Pro- 


THE  BLOOD  OF  SAINTS  IN  ROME.  331 

feasor  Gabriele  Kosetti,  Signer  Boccalossi,  Signer  Sussanni,  and 
other  gentlemen.  Signor  Mappei  thought  it  yras  no  longer  of 
any  use  to  oppose  the  Pope  as  an  individual  or  as  a  temporal 
prince,  for  he  believed  that  the  whole  system  of  Roman  Catholo- 
cism  tended  to  degrade  the  people,  and  obstruct  the  progress  of 
their  political  independence.  They  wished  to  be  unfettered  in 
their  acknowledgment  of  *  one  faith,  one  Lord,  one  baptism.'  In 
fact,  they  wanted  to  get  rid  of  the  whole  political  machinery  of 
the  Church  of  Rome.  Signor  Mappei  enlarged  upon  these  topics 
amidst  constant  interruptions.  So  great  indeed  was  the  disturb- 
ance, that  the  police  were  frequently  called  in  to  quell  it. 
Several  gentlemen  (zealous  Roman  Catholics  and  advocates  of 
the  present  system)  were  forcibly  expelled.  In  the  midst  of  the 
confusion  the  following  resolution  was  adopted  :  —  "  That  this 
meeting,  highly  condemning  as  tyrannical,  infamous,  anti-evan- 
gelical, and  impious,  the  conduct  of  Pope  Pius  IX.,  invites  all 
the  Italian  patriots  to  follow  the  true  Religion  of  Jesus  Christ, 
as  followed  by  their  ancestors,  throwing  aside  their  Papal  Church, 
which  is  conspiring  against  the  liberties  of  the  people.' — A  vote 
of  thanks  to  the  chairman  closed  the  proceedings.  This  is  cer- 
tainly not  one  of  the  least  significant  of  the  '  signs  of  the 
times.' " 

Thus  events  thicken;  the  foundations  of  Babylon  are  being 
undermined,  freedom  is  finding  access  to  its  dungeons,  and  its 
own  children,  weary  with  their  bondage  and  its  crimes,  are  rising 
up  against  her. 


LECTURE  XX. 


SPIRITUAL    DEATH. 


"  I  know  tby  works,  that  tboa  hast  a  name  that  thou  lirest,  and  art  dead."— 
Rev.  iii.  1. 

Had  we  to  appear  at  the  judgment-seat,  and  to  receive  the 
sentence  of  doom  from  the  lips  of  an  imperfect  and  erring  man, 
we  could  have  little  encouragement  to  seek  by  well-doing,  glory, 
honour,  and  immortality.  We  take  up  such  misapprehensions  of 
the  actions  and  motives  of  other  men ;  we  are  so  liable  to  be  de- 
ceived by  outward  appearances,  and  thence  to  deduce  erroneous 
conclusions,  —  that  we  all  feel  convinced  that  our  lives  never  can 
be  judged  correctly,  nor  our  actions  justly  weighed,  nor  our  ap- 
propriate condition  in  eternity  assigned  us,  by  any  one  who  has 
not  the  omniscience  of  Godhead  to  discriminate  and  weigh,  and 
the  sympathies  of  manhood  to  feel  and  to  commiserate.  The 
perplexed  woof  of  human  life  in  its  simplest  estate  is  composed 
of  threads  so  chequered  and  intermixed,  that  none  but  he  unto 
whom  the  essence  and  the  structure  of  all  that  constitutes  the 
moral  and  the  physical  world  arc  thoroughly  open,  can  separate 
the  good  from  the  bad,  and  determine  what  is  fit  to  be  burned 
and  what  is  worthy  of  being  preserved.  What  consolation  ought 
it  then  to  administer  to  them  who  have  chosen  that  better  part, 
that  Christ  their  Saviour,  who  is  soon  to  be  their  judge,  needs 
not  to  be  told  what  is  in  man,  because  unto  him  all  hearts  are 
open  and  all  desires  known — that  he  is  by  them  to  strengthen 
their  good  resolutions,  and  to  assist  their  weak  attempts  to  serve 
him — that  the  smallest  and  most  hidden  act  of  charity  done  to  a 
believer,  the  faintest  aspiration  after  a  holy  life,  shall  receive  from 
him  by  grace  the  appropriate  blessing  and  reward.  His  assertion 
of  himself  is,  "  I  know  thy  works."     Though  this  is  addressed 

332 


SPIRITUAL  DEATH.  888 

to  the  moderator  and  bishop  of  the  Church  of  Sardis,  yet  is  it 
meant  for  the  ear  of  every  bishop  also  in  the  Church  of  Scotland, 
and  in  every  Church ;  yea,  for  all  men  and  for  all  churches. 

Could  our  eyes  be  opened  this  day  as  were  the  eyes  of  Elisha's 
servant,  could  the  veil  that  intercepts  the  spiritual  world  from  our 
view  be  for  a  moment  withdrawn,  we  should  see  that  the  Lord 
of  Glory  was  bending  over  his  flock  with  a  brother's  eye,  and  yet 
with  Godhead's  intention,  and  watching  the  motions  of  every  heart, 
and  hearing  the  accents  of  every  psalm,  and  the  words  of  every 
prayer :  and,  alas  !  he  is  also  privy  to  every  thought  you  harbour 
about  earth  and  forbidden  things ;  and  while  he  hears  and  abun- 
dantly blesses  the  needy's  humble  supplication,  he  is  viexed  with, 
and  will  assuredly  punish  the  callousness  of  them  who  forget 
that  they  are  in  tte  presence  of  the  living  God.  To  the  child 
of  God  this  presence  and  perfect  knowledge  of  Christ  ought  to 
afford  the  strongest  comfort;  while  to  you  who  make  the  house 
of  God  little  else  than  a  convenient  place  for  helping  you  to  kill 
an  hour  or  two  you  cannot  otherwise  dispose  of,  it  ought  to  im- 
press the  most  solemn  fears  of  your  fate  at  that  day,  when  the 
secrets  of  the  closest  heart  shall  be  laid  bare  and  unmasked  in 
the  presence  of  a  deeply  interested  universe. 

But  the  expression,  "  I  know  thy  works,"  I  would  view  in  the 
moral  import  of  the  words.  It  is  as  if  he  has  said,  When  I 
blame  thee  and  lay  before  thee  thy  deficiencies,  when  I  tell  thee 
of  thy  carelessness  and  inattention,  do  not  suppose  that  I  entirely 
overlook  the  good  deeds  you  may  have  done.  I  know  them  all; 
I  have  estimated  them  all ;  I  have  weighed  them  in  the  balance, 
and  have  found  them  yet  wanting.  In  this  passage  there  is  a 
decided  recognition  of  something  in  its  way  good  still  remaining 
among  men ;  there  is  an  admission  on  the  part  of  the  unerring 
God,  that  in  man  there  are  yet  some  expiring  embers  of  that  fire 
which  came  at  the  first  from  heaven's  altars,  some  fragments  of 
that  glorious  edifice  which  Adam's  breast  presented  in  its  unfallen 
condition.  Christ  does  not  condemn  man  as  if  he  were  in  all  his 
actions  as  impure,  in  all  his  words  as  untrue,  and  in  all  his 
thoughts  as  corrupted,  as  the  devil  endeavours  to  make  them  ;  for 
he  can  yet  appreciate  in  man  some  of  the  scattered  flowers  of  the 
crown   that  fell   from   his  head,  which  time   hath  not  utterly 


334  THE  CHURCH  OF  SARDIS. 

withered,  which  the  breath  of  hell  hath  not  utterly  blasted.  We 
have  indeed  but  to  open  our  eyes,  and  we  cannot  fail  to  discern 
in  the  human  race  many  traits  which  give  strong  but  melancholy 
testimony  to  the  vastness  of  the  loss  which  sin  hath  brought  upon 
it,  and  to  the  fact  that  a  shred  or  two  of  its  pristine  perfection 
still  remain.  When  we  look  around  among  the  world's  families, 
and  in  the  circuit  of  our  observation  fix  our  attention  on  some 
cottage  in  our  native  land,  shall  we  not  find  therein  a  mother  ex- 
hausting her  mind  in  thought,  and  her  frame  in  exertions  to  pro- 
vide for  the  health  and  the  happiness  of  the  babe  that  hangs  at 
her  breast  ?  Is  there  no  remnant  of  moral  healthiness  in  the 
ardency  of  maternal  tenderness  ?  Is  there  no  excellence  most 
commendable  in  the  affection  which  enables  her  to  meet  death  in 
his  worst  shape  rather  than  see  her  little  one  sufier,  or  hear  its  cry 
for  protection,  and  not  rush  to  its  aid  ?  Is  there  no  fragment  of 
Adam's  greatness  in  the  toils  and  travails  which  an  affectionate 
son  willingly  encounters  to  soften  the  declining  years  of  a  parent 
most  esteemed  ?  Is  there  nothing  commendable  in  his  heart  who 
arms  himself  with  the  buckler  and  the  spear,  and  stands  in  the 
ranks  upon  the  battle-field,  that  the  foeman's  efforts  to  enslave  his 
country  may  be  repelled,  and  that  the  land  that  gave  him  birth 
may  bequeath  freedom  as  its  common  air  unto  those  that  are  born 
after  him  ?  Is  there  no  excellence  in  the  reciprocities  of  friend- 
ship— nothing  worthy  of  praise  in  the  devotedness  of  ancient 
men,  when  the  fate  of  a  relation,  or  a  friend,  or  a  native  land, 
demanded  its  deepest  outgoings  ?  Yes ;  in  all  these  instances — 
and  many  more  could  be  added — there  is  much  entitled  to  com- 
mendation—there is  much  that  the  Saviour  calls  goodj  for,  "If, 
ye,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts,  how  much  more  shall 
your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  give  good  things  to  them  that 
ask  him  ?" 

There  are  strong  traces  of  harmony  and  beauty  still  to  be  dis- 
covered alike  in  the  moral  and  in  the  physical  creation  :  the  rose 
has  its  beauty  and  its  fragrance,  and  maternal  affection  has  yet  its 
strength  and  its  loveliness;  the  oak  has  its  majesty  and  shade, 
and  the  patriot  is  not  yet  deprived  of  his  mental  greatness  and 
his  protecting  power.  The  body  of  man  is  not  divested  of  all  its 
comeliness,  nor  is  his  mind  of  all  its  manliness;  and  the  form  of 


SPIRITUAL  DEATH.  335 

woman  has  still  a  portion  of  its  pristine  grace,  and  her  mind 
has  still  a  remnant  of  its  pristine  sensibility :  there  are  spots 
of  barrenness  and  landscapes  like  Eden  on  the  surface  of  the 
earth ;  and  on  the  aspect  of  the  family  of  Adam  there  is  the  de- 
formity of  vice,  and  there  is  something,  too,  of  the  fruitfulness 
of  virtue.  I  wish  to  enter  the  discussion  with  my  fellow-meu 
fairly  accoutred;  I  wish  them  to  possess  the  ground  they  can 
honestly  claim,  and  the  weapons  they  can  fairly  wield.  It  is  not 
therefore  useful,  it  is  not  judicious,  in  depicting  the  condition  of 
man,  to  strip  him  of  all  he  boasts  of,  and  to  charge  him  with  the 
blackest  crimes  in  their  highest  degrees,  and  with  a  heart  corrupt 
to  the  core,  desperately  wicked,  as  it  verily  is,  and  with  conduct 
unrelieved  by  a  single  virtue,  and  imaginations  unenlightened  by 
a  single  ray.  of  light !  Poor  man  !  grant  him  all  those  external 
though  imperfect  moralities  which  bubble  in  perpetual  and  gay 
succession  from  the  thousand  streams  of  human  occupation.  Give 
him,  in  charity  give  him,  his  deeds  of  heroic  note,  his  ancient 
chivalry,  marked  with  unparalleled  devotedness  in  its  time,  his 
magnanimity,  his  high  sense  of  honour,  and  his  fair  dealings  and 
his  comely  politeness.  My  brother,  I  do  cheerfully  give  thee  all 
these,  and  the  praise  they  merit,  and  would  I  could  give  thee 
more.  And  why  ?  Because  Christ  concedes  these — because  his 
apostles  refuse  them  not-^because  common  observation  notes,  and 
common  feeling  commends  them  all. 

Yet  lackest  thou  one  thing,  the  want  of  which  may  and  must 
hurl  the  man  with  his  vaunted  honours,  and  the  hero  with  his 
heroic  bravery,  and  the  mother  with  her  warm  affection,  to  the 
blackness  of  darkness  for  ever.  That  one  thing  is  the  main- 
spring of  true  and  acceptable  holiness  —  a  new  heart  which  the 
love  of  God  gives  birth  to,  and  which  love  to  God  maintains  in 
healthy  action,  and  enableth  at  its  very  pulse  to  send  around  it 
the  life-blood  streams  that  preserve  society  from  corruption,  and 
the  earth  we  inhabit  from  universal  ruin. 

Christ  tells  the  Sardian  bishop  in  the  text,  that  with  all  these 
acquirements  (for  these  are  the  feats  that  give  one  a  name,  and 
the  reputation  of  a  good  and  a  social  person,)  he  had  neverthe- 
less but  "  a  name  to  live  by,  and  was  dead."  Now  what  is  it  to 
have  a  name  to  live  by?  It  is  just  to  have  all  the  appearance  of 
a  true  Christian,  but  none  of  the  reality.     It  is  just  to  be  most 


330  THE  CHURCH  OF  SARDIS. 

punctual  ia  attendance  on  the  preached  word,  most  regularly  seen 
at  the  sacramental  table,  and  apparently  most  deeply  alive  to  -all 
the  holy  exercises  which  diffuse  the  aroma  and  the  atmosphere  of 
holiness.  The  Pharisees  of  olden  days  had  a  name,  and  a 
mighty  name  to  live  by.  A  Jew  would  have  risked  his  eternal 
felicity  on  the  reality  of  Jus  Gamaliel's  godliness.  Yet  were 
these  men  hollow  at  heart,  and  corrupt  to  the  core,  as  the  grave 
that  hath  the  rose  and  the  myrtle  on  its  breast,  but  corruption, 
and  decay,  and  dead  men's  bones  within.  The  man  who  has  the 
name  to  live  by  to  the  outward  eye,  seems  to  savour  as  remark- 
ably of  heaven,  and  of  its  holy  character,  as  the  man  who  has 
within  his  bosom  the  jewel  of  great  price.  He  presents  unto  all  eyes 
the  goodly  sight  of  walking  to  Zion  with  his  family  around  him, 
with  the  well-kept  Bible  in  his  hand ;  his  look  is  lifted  up  to  the 
temple  spires,  and  his  steps  seem  staid  and  firm  through  the  in- 
fluence of  faith  and  hope  and  assured  confidence.  He  engages, 
to  all  appearance,  as  devoutly  in  prayer  as  the  heavenliest  mem- 
ber of  the  flock ;  and  his  voice  is  heard  in  praise  as  conspicuous 
as  his  whose  heart  is  tuned  by  the  finger  of  God  and  filled  with 
the  breath  of  heaven.  But,  alas  !  the  garb  is  assumed  for  out- 
ward show,  put  on  and  put  off  with  his  Sunday's  coat,  and  as 
much  a  part  of  himself.  He  is  the  counterfeit  coin  that  deceives 
the  unwary,  but  which  is  eventually  detected  and  exposed  by  him 
who  made  the  true  substance  at  the  first,  and  hath  the  die  and 
the  mould  that  gave  it  all  its  being.  The  bad  bank-note  seems 
to  unskilled  men  as  beautiful,  as  real,  and  as  valuable  as  the  best 
the  bank  can  afford ;  but  when  it  is  presented  at  the  judgment- 
day,  and  the  payment  of  its  superscription,  and  its  demand, 
"  Lord,  open,"  claimed  from  God,  it  will  be  exposed,  condemned, 
and  rejected,  as  worthless  trash  and  fit  only  to  be  burned.  But 
more  than  this,  it  generally  comes  to  pass  that  the  merely  nomi- 
nal Christian  is  stripped  of  his  borrowed  plumes  even  in  this  life. 
Let  the  fire  of  persecution  once  again  break  forth  from  its  smould- 
ering ashes,  let  the  appliances  of  strong  temptation  kindle  up  within 
the  mere  professor's  bosom,  and  the  artificial  fabric  will  give 
way,  the  hay,  and  the  straw,  and  the  stubble  will  be  burned  up, 
and  the  naked  deformity  of  the  man  oome  out  with  its  hideous 
lineameuts. 


SPIRITUAL  DEATH.  337 

Rest  assured,  my  dear  brethren,  that  vital  Christianity  alone 
can  withstand  either  the  common  temptations  of  the  devil  and  the 
world  and  the  flesh,  or  those  convulsions,  and  changes,  and  un- 
sparing disasters,  which  in  these  momentous  times  scorch,  if  they 
go  not  to  consume,  the  most  distant  corners  of  Christendom. 
The  coloured  brass,  the  alloyed  metal,  will  not  stand  you  in  stead ; 
gold  alone,  that  which  Christ  hath  to  sell  and  for  nothing,  will 
come  forth  from  the  furnace  purer  than  when  it  entered  in. 
None  but  those  who  have  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed-ncgo's 
faith  and  holiness,  can  expect  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abed- 
nego's  security.  The  lions  will  shut  their  ravenous  mouth,  and 
refuse  to  injure  a  limb  of  him  that  belongs  unto  Jesus;  and  the 
flames  of  the  seven  times  heated  furnace  will  play  around  him  in 
their  ascent  to  heaven,  and  withal  refuse  to  singe  a  hair  of  his 
head,  or  the  weakest  part  of  his  hosen  and  homely  garments. 
There  is  a  power  and  a  permanency  in  real  and  vital  godliness 
which  does  denude  consuming  Time  of  his  action,  temptation  of 
its  power,  and  persecution  of  its  grim  and  ghastly  features. 

The  nominal  Christian  is  forced  to  have  recourse  to  a  thousand 
shifts  to  prevent  the  world's  eye  from  detecting  the  mask  that 
lends  his  naturally  frightful  aspect  all  its  attractiveness,  and 
gives  him  his  currency  and  character  in  society.  Like  certain 
tyrants  of  this  world,  he  must  adjust  his  habiliments  before  he 
mingle  with  mankind ;  and  even  when  he  is  engaged  in  the  va- 
ried duties  of  sacred  or  common  occupation,  he  must  habituate  his 
movements  to  a  system  of  cautious  restraint,  and  look  upon  the 
men  that  seem  to  possess  more  than  common  penetration  with  a 
scowling  and  suspicious  eye.  His  fate  in  society  he  well  knows 
may  be  sealed  by  the  evolution  of  a  moment,  by  a  word,  by  an 
act,  by  a  thousand  things  which  must  be  carefully  attempered  be- 
fore he  can  allow  them  to  come  under  the  review  of  his  fellow- 
men.  What  a  miserable  life !  How  expensive  is  hypocrisy ! 
Verily,  this  laboured  and  severely  sustained  homage,  which  vice 
offers  up  to  virtue,  is  worse  of  attainment  than  religion's  straitest 
duties.  This  cloak,  so  scanty  in  dimensions,  so  liable  at  the  im- 
pulse of  a  breath  to  disclose  its  wearer's  deformity,  so  prickly  at 
all  hours  and  at  all  places,  is  in  thiAnatter  alone  more  trouble- 
some and  costly  than  the  very  mantle  of  holiness,  which,  like 

29 


338  THE  CHUECH  OF  SARDIS. 

Elijah's,  is  ready  to  descend  from  the  upper  Church  on  all  dis- 
posed to  receive  it.  As  truth  alone  in  language  is  simple,  and 
more  enduring  than  falsehood,  so  reality,  its  counterpart  in  the 
conduct  is  simpler,  and  more  enduring  than  the  fairest  and  the 
best  sustained  semblance  even  in  the  life.  The  actor  who  per- 
sonates a  king  for  a  brief  hour  upon  the  stage,  is  no  farther  re- 
moved from  the  crowned  monarch  of  the  land  in  point  of  retinue, 
possessions,  prospects,  and  true  superiority,  than  is  the  hypocrite 
from  the  saint,  whose  bosom  is  the  temple  of  the  Majesty  of 
Heaven,  whose  ministering  servants  are  the  spirits  that  surround 
the  throne,  whose  heart  is  the  sanctified  centre  of  the  virtues,  ho- 
liness and  piety,  which  there  brighten  by  their  busy  play  the 
night  of  our  earthly  pilgrimage.  A  name  to  live  by  !  This  is, 
indeed,  a  paltry  possession ;  it  is  an  unmanly,  and  what  is  worse, 
it  is  a  most  unchristian  livelihood. 

In  those  of  you  who  are  in  this  condition  I  do  solemnly  charge 
home  forgery  on  the  Majesty  of  Heaven ;  I  do  charge  you  with 
high  treason  against  the  Holy  One  of  Israel.  Yon  affix  the  stamp 
of  heaven  to  the  documents  of  hell,  you  write  the  signature  and 
superscription  of  the  great  "  I  AM  "  upon  the  base  metal  which 
Satan  forges  and  commissions  you  to  circulate,  that  fellow-men 
may  awake  from  the  grave,  and  find  the  riches  they  hoarded  so 
intensely  to  be  but  the  riches  of  corruption,  and  that  in  heaven 
alone,  of  all  creation,  they  have  no  treasures.  The  merchants, 
and  the  bankers,  and  the  menied  men,  prosecute  and  drag  to  an 
ignominious  punishment  the  man  who  will  forge  upon  them,  and 
circulate  as  their  bills  and  notes  the  mere  imitations  of  them ! 
Will  you  punish  the  man  who  will  employ  your  name  and  credit 
to  give  currency  to  a  useless  rag,  and  will  the  Grod  and  Judge  of 
all  allow  men  to  give  currency  and  rank  to  their  own  vile  acts 
and  practices,  and  unrenewed  character,  by  skilfully  covering  all 
with  the  studied  imitation  of  the  characters  of  heaven  ?  If  the 
offender  against  the  name  and  credit  of  a  worm  of  the  dust  meets 
punishment  in  the  course  of  retributive  justice  here,  most  as- 
suredly the  man  who  offends,  by  his  hypocrisy,  against  the  name 
of  the  Eternal  shall  die  a  more  awful  and  lasting  death,  even  the 
second  death.  ^ 

I  desire  to  place  tho  matter  in  its  true  light  and  just  bearing. 


SPIRITUAL  DEATH.  839 

Compare  the  requirements,  rewards,  and  penalties  of  heaven  with 
those  of  man,  in  the  moments  of  their  cool  and  unprejudiced 
operation,  and  you  will  find  that  the  latter  minister  the  strongest 
arguments  to  the  fairness  of  the  former.  I  believe  that  many  men 
are  nominal  Christians  from  want  of  reflection,  and  I  fear  this 
class  is  exceedingly  numerous,  and  therefore  I  wish  to  set  forth 
the  subject  in  as  many  of  the  universalities  of  its  application  as 
your  time  will  allow.  What  would  you  say  of  that  soldier's 
honesty,  to  say  nothing  of  his  intrepidity,  who  should  wear  the 
king's  uniform,  and  bear  the  king's  sword,  and  receive  the  king's 
pay,  and  meanwhile  harbour  in  his  bosom  the  most  disloyal  and 
treasonable  thoughts;  one,  who  should  regulate  his  actions  by 
the  directions  and  wishes  of  that  power  which  was  the  stoutest 
enemy  of  his  nation  ? 

All  of  you  are  animated  with  the  spirit  that  would  reprobate 
such  nefarious  treachery.  But  why  do  ye  allow  this  spirit  of  re- 
probation to  halt  here  ?  Have  ye  not  professed  to  be  soldiers  of 
the  King  of  heaven  at  the  baptismal  font  ?  Have  ye  not  taken 
the  solemn  sacrament,  by  which,  and  at  which,  ye  did  pledge 
yourselves  to  fight  manfully  for  God  and  for  his  Christ,  against 
the  devil  and  the  world  and  the  flesh  ?  Do  you  not  receive  the 
rich  bounty  of  God  in  the  air  you  breathe,  in  the  bread  you  eat, 
in  the  freedom  you  are  born  to,  in  the  unfailing  sustentation  of 
his  gracious  providence  ?  Yet,  will  ye  give  your  best  affection  to 
the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil;  the  three-fold  dominion  ye 
were  called  to  subdue  ?  Will  ye  wrap  around  you  the  banner  of 
the  Lord  of  Hosts,  and  join  the  ranks  of  its  deadliest  opponents  ? 
Will  you  use  the  strength  that  heaven  gives  to  your  bones,  to  de- 
throne Christ,  and  to  exalt  Belial  ?  If  ye  forget  the  feeling  of 
the  champion  of  the  Cross,  call  to  your  aid  the  high-toned 
chivalry  of  the  human  warrior,  and  let  this  world's  habits,  in 
some  of  their  developments  at  least,  as  well  as  its  mammon,  be- 
come your  friends.  Praise  not  the  hero  on  the  battle-field  of 
earth,  and  equally  praise  the  coward  on  the  battle-field  of  grace. 
Some  of  you  will  say,  We  are  willing,  and  not  a  little  eflScient, 
soldiers  of  Christ.  We  contribute  our  efforts  and  our  means  to 
advance  his  kingdom,  by  supporting  Missionary  and  Bible  So- 
cieties.    So  far  is  well ;  but  beware  of  deluding  your  ownselves : 


340  THE  CHURCH  OF  SARDIS. 

there  is  a  courage  of  sympathy  no  more  allied  to  true  courage  than 
absolute  cowardice.  The  veriest  coward  is  often  hurried  to  the 
foe  amid  the  trumpet  blast  and  the  rapidity  of  onset,  without 
once  feeling  an  emotion  of  loyalty,  zeal,  or  genuine  patriotism. 
The  pressure  of  his  follows,  and  the  confusion  of  the  moment,  are 
the  sole  incentives  to  his  attack  and  rapid  charge.  And  so  in  the 
Church,  the  fervent  eloquence  of  the  preacher,  the  catching  piety 
of  neighbours  and  companions,  may  hurry  on  a  languid  and  un- 
renewed heart  to  acts  of  Christian  sacrifice  and  suffering  to  which 
it  would  otherwise  be  a  stranger.  The  avowed  infidel  will  not 
give  his  assent  to  Christian  institutions — the  open  profligate  will 
be  as  reluctant.  None  will,  but  the  real  and  renewed  disciple  of 
Jesus,  or  the  nominal  disciple  who  has  but  a  name  to  live  by. 
In  the  one  rank,  or  in  the  other,  you  must  stand. 

The  Lord  Jesus,  the  great  Bishop  of  the  Church,  sums  up  the 
record  of  the  Sardian  minister's  character  with  the  impressive 
words,  "and  art  dead."  With  all  his  social  feelings,  with  all  his 
virtues,  with  all  his  well-sustained  semblance  of  Christianity, 
Christ  pronounces  him  dead.  Men  cannot  pierce  the  breast  and 
scan  the  condition  of  the  soul ;  they  cannot  tell  the  true  state 
each  of  his  own  heart :  how  much  less  the  condition  of  another ! 
We  can  judge  of  men's  hearts  solely  by  their  fruits ;  and  even  in 
this  case,  the  tints  are  so  fine,  that  we  often  miss  or  mistake  them. 
But  Christ  hath  the  eyes  of  fire,  that  can  penetrate  the  innermost 
chambers  of  imagery,  and  view  the  heart  of  man  in  all  its  atti- 
tudes and  in  all  its  pulses. 

Now  what  is  the  nature  of  this  death  in  which  the  Sardian 
Church  and  bishop  are  declared  to  be,  in  which  all  mankind  are 
also  standing  in  their  unquickened  and  unrenewed  state  ?  The 
other  testimonies  of  Scripture  are  briefly  these :  (Eph.  iii.  5,) 
"  Dead  in  trespasses  and  sins ;"  (2  Cor.  v.  14,)  "  If  one  died  for 
all,  then  were  all  dead ;"  (1  Tim.  v.  6,)  "  But  she  that  liveth  in 
pleasure  is  dead  while  she  yet  liveth."  All  these  remarkable  and 
striking  passages  characterise  one  state  of  man's  existence  by  the 
word  death.  Let  us  then  address  ourselves  to  the  duty  of  open- 
ing up  and  defining  this  feature  in  man ;  and  for  this  purpose  let 
us  ascend  the  course  of  ages  till  we  arrive  at  the  sentence  pro- 
nounced on  the  first  progenitor  of  man.     Kemember,  or  rather 


SPIRITUAL  DEATH.  3-11 

picture  to  your  minds,  the  fair  fields  of  ancient  Eden  —  its  at- 
tempered sun  by  day,  and  its  spangled  firmament  by  night  —  its 
undying  flowers  and  its  unfading  fruits  —  its  limpid  streams  and 
its  air  ever  fresh  and  supportive  of  a  healthy  and  prolonged  exist- 
ence. In  the  midst  of  this  happy  combination  of  physical  delights, 
picture  to  yourselves  Adam,  the  lord  and  master  of  them  all, 
mighty  in  all  that  constitutes  the  dignity  of  his  being.  His  in- 
tellect could  rise  from  earth  to  heaven,  and  trace  throughout  the 
chain  that  stretches  upward  from  the  reptile  of  the  dust  to  the 
loftiest  comprehensible  intelligence.  God  was  then  his  Father, 
his  delight,  and  the  beginning,  the  current,  and  end  of  all  his 
thoughts ;  and  if  the  fair  creature  that  hung  about  him,  like  the 
ivy  on  the  oak,  occupied  his  thoughts  at  any  time,  it  must  have 
been  his  object  to  chant  in  true  poetry  the  all-encompassing  glo- 
ries of  their  God,  hence  to  raise  a  loftier  anthem  and  a  louder 
strain  of  praise.  But  from  this  picture  or  portrait,  the  reality  of 
which  was  far  a  stranger  thing  than  our  shorn  imaginations  can 
educe,  turn  to  his  state,  when,  after  his  eating  the  forbidden 
fruit,  the  insupportable  weight  of  the  words  fulfilled,  "  Thou . 
shalt  surely  die  !"  dragged  him  to  the  very  earth. 

We  are  so  familiar  with  death  temporal  and  death  spiritual, 
that  we  can  but  inadequately  know  it.  They  stare  us  in  the  face 
at  all  times  —  we  see  them  as  we  pass  along  the  streets,  in  our 
families,  and  at  our  tables.  But  could  Adam  come  forth  from 
the  grave  and  the  world  unseen,  and  stand  where  I  now  stand, 
he  could  state  to  you  the  contrast  which  he  learned,  to  his  woeful 
experience,  in  colours  which  would  require  more  than  mortal 
strength  to  listen  or  to  look  to.  The  chill  of  death,  the  moment 
he  had  eaten,  shot  through  his  whole  moral  and  physical  constitu- 
tion, blasting  and  withering,  like  the  wilderness  simoom,  every 
beautiful  afiection  and  faculty  and  feeling  and  endowment  that 
grew  up  before.  The  foul  current  of  earthly  propensities  ran  and 
mingled  with  the  stream  of  heaven-born  feelings  —  the  wrinkles 
of  years  gathered  on  his  brow,  and  the  snows  of  age  fell  upon  his 
head,  and  the  dimness  of  age  settled  on  his  eyes.  The  conflict 
of  motives,  and  the  weakness  of  his  intellectual  powers,  beset  the 
sinful  man ;  and  not  only  his  own  constitution,  but  the  constitu- 
tion of  encompassing  nature,  underwent  a  dire  eclipse.     The 

29* 


342  THE  CHURCH  OF  SARDIS. 

atmosphere  was  filled  with  damps  that  hasten  death ;  the  summer 
could  now  scorch  and  the  winter  chill ;  the  dumb  brutes  rose  up 
in  warfare  one  against  another,  and  all  against  man.  That  first 
sin,  like  a  sore  stroke  stricken  on  the  heart  of  a  man,  sent  its 
paralysis  to  the  utmost  extremities  of  the  system.  The  natural 
death  was  severe,  but  the  spiritual  death  was  worse ;  the  one 
touched  the  body,  the  other  the  soul. 

The  character  of  this  spiritual  death  was  the  loss  and  exhaus- 
tion of  love  to  God  —  a  ceaseless  retreating  from  God.  Accord- 
ingly, we  find  that  Adam  had  no  sooner  sinned  than  he  went  and 
hid  himself  among  the  trees  of  the  garden,  whence,  had  not  God 
brought  him  forth  by  the  voice  of  mercy,  mingled  as  it  was  with 
compassionate  rebuke,  death  spiritual,  temporal,  and  eternal, 
might  have  been  perpetuated  for  ever,  and  the  earth  had  pre- 
sented a  silent  and  vast  grave. 

In  this  single  fact,  of  Adam's  flight  from  God,  we  have  a  tnje 
and  comprehensive  discovery  of  spiritual  death.  You  find  the 
unregenerated  man  all  life  and  liveliness  in  social  intercourse — in 
the  concerns  of  his  present  being — in  the  politics  of  the  day — in 
all  the  petty  and  evanescent  occupations  of  the  children  of  this 
generation. 

He  shows  life  indeed  in  the  cabinet  of  princes,  or  in  the  con- 
flict of  foemen.  But  appeal  to  him  in  behalf  of  God  and  his 
kingdom — in  behalf  of  Christian  institutions — and  you  find  him 
insensible  as  the  rock  upon  the  sea-beaten  beach.  Look  for  fer- 
vency in  prayer,  and  you  find  the  freezing  coldness  of  formality. 
Look  for  activity  in  recommending  the  gospel  to  his  neighbours, 
and  you  find  him  useless  as  a  creature  out  of  its  element.  Look 
for  him  in  anything  that  has  to  do  with  God  and  the  Bible,  and 
you  find  his  state  exactly  portrayed  by  the  apostle,  — "  dead," 
"  dead  in  sin,"  destitute  of  that  life  which  is  the  only  life  worth 
struggling  for,  destitute  of  that  life  for  which  our  natural  life  is 
chiefly  conferred,  and  hugged  close  in  the  cold  embraces  of  that 
death  which,  if  unquickened  in  time,  must  last  throughout  eter- 
nity. Let  us  look  more  closely  at  this  death.  Imagine  to  your- 
selves a  lifeless  body  stretched  upon  its  bier,  in  the  midst  of  some 
assembly.  Call  around  it  the  most  noted  and  skilful  anatomists 
of  the  age,  and  command  them  to  examine  the  body  that  lies  so 


SPIRITUAL  LEATH.  343 

peacefully  before  them ;  and  when  they  have  done  so,  ask  them 
to  declare  the  difference  between  it  and  any  living  man  beside 
them.  They  will  inform  you  that  they  find  all  the  organs  of 
sense, — all  the  thews  and  sinews  and  vessels, — the  heart,  of  most 
wonderful  structure,  —  the  lungs  and  arteries,  and  all  they  know 
to  be  requisite  to  constitute  a  breathing  man.  And  there  is  no 
visible  reason  why  he  should  not  rise  and  walk.  Yet  the  man  is 
motionless ;  he  gives  no  reply  when  his  name  is  called ;  he  seems 
to  have  no  sympathy  with  doings  around  him.  The  most  gra- 
cious benefactor  and  the  most  bitter  enemy,  alter  not  the  one  or 
the  other  the  expression  of  his  pallid  face ;  praise  or  blame,  kind- 
ness or  insult,  beget  not  a  single  emotion  within  its  cold  breast. 
Now  this  is  a  correct  portrait  of  spiritual  death.  As  the  body, 
under  the  dominion  of  natural  death,  is  unmoved  by  the  objects 
that  affected  the  body  in  life ;  so,  in  like  manner,  the  soul  under 
the  power  of  spiritual  death,  is  uninterested  in  all  that  excites 
the  warmest  emotions  in  the  soul  that  is  born  again.  The  soul 
that  is  spiritually  dead  has  its  intellectual  and  its  other  powers, 
and  to  a  superficial  observer  seems  equally  complete  as  the  body 
in  the  same  state,  as  far  as  the  structure  is  concerned.  But  the 
one  is  as  still  in  all  its  sympathies  as  the  other ;  cold  death  lords 
it  equally  over  the  one  as  over  the  other.  Again ;  bring  by  the 
ear  of  that  lifeless  body  the  master  musicians  of  the  age,  and 
desire  them,  from  many  instruments  in  harmony,  to  awaken  the 
noblest  strains  that  Handel  conceived — ^yea,  could  you  summon 
down  from  heaven's  citadels  the  seraphim  and  cherubim  that 
struck  their  sweetest  notes  in  the  hearing  of  the  humble  shep- 
herds of  Bethlehem  at  the  Messiah's  birth,  and  entreat  them  to 
repeat  in  the  dead  man's  presence  the  same  high  concert, — would 
he  bestir  a  limb  ?  would  he  betray  an  emotion  ?  Nay,  nay  !  The 
notes  that  thrilled  every  heart  would  pass  by  his  as  the  idle  and 
unnoticed  winds. 

Again,  place  before  him  the  choicest  dainties  that  the  tables  of 
the  rich  can  command,  all  the  fruits  that  art  and  propitious  nature 
united  can  produce,  all  the  wines  of  distant  climes  and  richest 
soils,  and  withal  pour  out  around  him  the  most  grateful  and 
refreshing  perfumes  that  Araby  or  India  can  raise, — and  does  the 
dead  man  gird  himself  for  the  feast?  docs  he  seem  to  be  im- 


344  THE  CHURCH  OF  SARDIS. 

mersed  in  delightful  anticipation ?  Far  from  it;  he  is  as  quiet 
and  unmoved  as  before.  Give  not  over  yet — lift  him  to  a  moun- 
tain's brow  which  commands  the  most  glorious  landscape  earth 
possesses  on  her  variegated  surface.  Entreat  him  to  lift  up  those 
heavy  eyelids,  and  to  look  athwart  the  fresh  and  winding  streams, 
the  waving  fields  and  the  flowery  earth,  and  the  untamed  herds, 
and  the  watchful  shepherds,  and  the  vast  ocean  in  the  distance, 
with  its  sleepless  eye  upturned  for  ever  to  the  sun, — and  does  he 
seem  to  enjoy  the  sight  ?  does  he  begin  to  inhale  the  pure  atmo- 
sphere, and  to  express  his  admiration  of  the  view  ?  Alas !  there 
is  no  impression  still. 

Let  the  house  in  which  he  is  laid  take  fire,  and  let  there  begin 
to  fall  about  him  its  blazing  fragments, — will  the  danger  of  a  wife, 
or  a  mother,  rouse  him  to  their  rescue  ?  will  the  fearful  devasta- 
tion of  the  element,  or  the  imploring  prayers  of  his  friends 
awaken  him  to  rise  and  escape  the  ruin  ?  He  will  remain  unter- 
rified  and  uninterested  till  the  body  is  burned  to  ashes,  and  with 
it  all  that  lies  within  the  house. 

But  this,  my  friends,  is  the  conduct  of  the  soul  that  is  spiritu- 
ally dead  in  matters  that  apply  to  its  constitution.  Present  to 
the  soul  that  is  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins  all  the  glories  of  heaven 
on  the  one  hand,  and  all  the  horrors  of  hell  on  the  other;  the 
perpetuity  of  a  heavenly  inheritance,  and  the  transient  nature  of 
an  earthly  one ;  the  pleasantness  of  holiness  and  Christian  walk, 
and  the  unseemliness  and  disquiet  of  a  sensual  life ; — tell  it,  it  is 
dead  and  must  be  born  again ;  it  is  condemned,  and  must  be 
justified  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus;  it  is  sinful  and  unclean,  and 
must  be  purified  by  the  Spirit  of  God ; — tell  it,  it  must  seek  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  first,  and  then  its  own  recreation ;  tell  it,  it 
must  be  transformed  by  the  renewing  of  its  mind,  and  conformed 
to  God  ; — and  it  will  treat  all  as  a  romantic  story,  it  will  maintain 
its  wonted  attitude,  and  even  when  it  is  summoned  from  this 
world  to  the  next,  it  will  plunge  in  unalarmed  recklessness  into 
the  fire  that  is  not  quenched  for  ever  and  ever. 

There  may  be  no  doctrinal  errors  in  the  creed,  no  extravagance 
in  the  sermon,  no  marked  crookedness  and  inconsistency  in  the 
lives  of  our  people,  and  yet  no  life.   There  may  be  in  the  worship 


SPIRITUAL  DEATH.  345 

great  rubrical  decorum,  and  much  activity  in  missionary  enter- 
prise; yet  all  may  be  the  movements  of  an  automaton. 

You  may  retain  some  name  significant  of  past  and  noble 
victories,  and  indicative  of  present  duty,  and  yet  be  dead.  You 
may  be  protestant  in  name  and  not  in  fact.  Like  a  degenerate 
noble,  you  may  wear  the  illustrious  title  that  renders  only  more 
conspicuous  your  unworthiness  and  shame.  Such  a  Church  is  a 
painted  flower,  with  neither  freshness,  beauty  nor  vitality. 

Like  the  ancient  Egyptian  temple,  it  is  all  beautiful  without; 
but  within,  and  in  the  niches  of  its  deities,  are  the  unclean  pro- 
ducts of  the  Nile.  Its  sacrifice  is  that  of  Cain,  its  humility  that 
of  Ahab,  its  tears  those  of  Esau,  and  its  repentance  that  of  Judas. 
It  seems,  not  is.  Behold  an  apology  for  a  Church,  a  titular  Chris- 
tianity, a  pretence,  a  delusion,  a  sham  ! 

The  individual  professor  of  a  name  to  live  by,  while  dead,  may 
repeat  the  Creed,  sign  the  Articles,  subscribe  the  confession  of 
faith,  and  yet  be  dead.  There  may  be  a  dead  orthodoxy  and  a 
living  heresy.  He  may  have  much  outward  and  virtuous  excel- 
lence. Paul,  touching  the  righteousness  of  the  law,  was  blame- 
less before  he  was  a  Christian.  The  foolish  virgins  were  scarcely 
to  be  distinguished  from  the  wise ;  but  herein  lies  the  difi"erence : 

—  true  Christianity,  visible  in  the  life,  comes  forth  from  a  vital 
principle  within ;  nominal  Christianity,  as  apparent,  is  superin- 
duced from  without. 

There  may  be  loud  professions.  Judas  called  Jesus  "  Master." 
The  Pope  calls  himself  "  servant  of  servants."  One  may  wear 
Christ's  livery,  and  yet  not  be  Christ's.    The  sounding  ceremony 

—  the  gorgeous  procession  —  the  splendid  robe,  are  not  Chris- 
tianity. There  may  be  great  privileges.  These  commend  God 
to  us,  not  us  to  God.  These  are  evidences  of  his  goodness,  not 
of  our  excellence.  The  Jews  in  peril  from  their  sins,  cried  out, 
"  Bring  us  the  ark  of  the  Lord."  We  may  follow  our  privileges 
to  destruction,  as  the  Jews  followed  the  pillar  of  fire  into  the 
depths  of  the  Red  Sea. 

One  may  have  great  gifts,  and  yet  have  but  a  name  to  live  by. 
Like  the  spies  that  visited  the  Promised  Land,  we  may  bring 
back  an   eloquent  report  of  its  glory,  and  yet  not  enter  it. 


346  THE  CHUECH  OF  SARDIS. 

Balaam  was  a  prophet  —  Judas  was  an  apostle.  Gifts  are  not 
grace  —  light  is  not  life.  Read  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  the 
First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  and  learn  there  how  far  we  may 
rise,  and  yet  miss  Christianity.  Many  will  say  on  that  day, 
"  Lord,  have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy  name,  and  in  thy  name 
have  cast  out  devils,  and  in  thy  name  done  many  wonderful 
works  ?" 

Anybody  can  make  an  apparent  Christian.  The  Spirit  of  God 
alone  can  make  a  real  Christian.  Let  us  ask  our  Father  to  give 
us  this  same  Holy  Spirit,  for  Christ's  sake. 


LECTUKE  XXI. 


INSTANT    DUTIES. 


''  Be  watchful,  and  strengthen  the  things  ^rhich  remain,  that  are  ready  to 
die :  for  I  have  not  found  thy  works  perfect  before  God." — Rev.  iii.  2. 

You  may  recollect  that  I  addressed  you  on  tlie  verse,  A  name 
to  live  by,  whilst  he  that  wears  it  is  dead — the  characteristic  of  a 
declining  and  almost  extinguished  Church.  I  likewise  addressed 
you  on  the  fourth  verse  last  Sunday  evening :  ''  Thou  hast  a  few 
names  even  in  Sardis  which  have  not  defiled  their  garments ;  and 
they  shall  walk  with  me  in  white  :  for  they  are  worthy."  Only 
then  I  discovered  that  I  had  not  endeavoured  to  explain  the 
second  verse,  which  contains  many  beautiful,  apposite,  and  season- 
able prescriptions;  and  as  every  crumb  that  falls  from  the  table 
of  our  Lord  is  precious,  and  every  truth  contained  in  these  ad- 
dresses is  seasonable,  beautiful,  and  instructive,  I  desire  to  open 
up  all,  and  gather  what  I  can  of  comfort,  instruction,  and  direc- 
tion, as  I  pass  along. 

Those  then  in  the  Church  of  Sardis  who  listened  to  the  voice 
of  that  Church's  Lord  are,  in  the  first  place,  called  upon,  as  we 
are  called  upon,  to  be  watchful.  "Be  watchful" — this  is  a  duty 
that  is  always  imminent,  a  caution  that  is  universally  needful. 
The  fact  that  we  are  called  upon  to  be  watchful,  implies  that  there 
are  some  things  we  are  to  watch  over,  and  other  things  we  are  to 
watch  against.  I  will  therefore  give  you,  as  I  may  be  enabled, 
(and  I  pray  that  the  Spirit  of  God  may  teach  you  to  feel  them,) 
some  salutary  and  seasonable  prescriptions  based  chiefly  upon  the 
words,  "  Be  watchful." 

When  watchful,  we  are  so  not  only  to  keep  off  what  is  hostile, 
but  to  keep  in  what  is  good,  cherished,  and  beloved.     When  we 

(347) 


348  THE  CHURCH  OF  SARDIS. 

shut  the  door  at  night,  we  not  only  do  so  to  keep  out  the  thief, 
but  to  keep  in  what  we  value.  "When  we  lock  our  cash-box,  it  is 
not  only  to  keep  from  it  the  hands  that  would  empty  it,  but  to 
keep  in  it  the  money  that  we  value,  and  have  hardly  earned. 
"  Be  watchful,"  therefore,  implies  not  only  there  is  something 
without  that  we  have  reason  to  dread,  but  that  there  is  also  some- 
thing within,  that  we  have  grounds  for  valuing. 

Be  watchful,  then,  in  the  first  place,  I  would  say,  over  your 
affections.  Thousands  of  attractions  draw  them  from  God,  and 
keep  them,  if  possible,  at  a  distance  from  him.  We  are  called 
upon,  as  the  people  of  God,  to  keep,  by  his  grace,  those  affections 
that  he  has  given  us ;  clustering  around  his  throne  like  flowers . 
that  his  smiles  have  made  beautiful,  and  his  breath  has  made  fra- 
grant, ever  lifting  their  heads,  and  towering  towards  that  Sun 
whose  beams  are  their  nutriment  and  their  beauty ;  and  yielding 
in  return,  fragrance,  as  the  expression  of  the  gratitude  we  feel, 
and  as  the  only  response  we  can  make  to  him  to  whom  we  are  in- 
debted for  them  all.  Be  watchful,  then,  over  your  affections, 
that  they  do  not  creep  and  spread  upon  the  earth  —  that  they  do 
not  cling  to  an  idol,  nor  cleave  to  what  is  sinful,  nor  go  out  after 
what  is  forbidden.  See  that  they  tower  and  rise  until  they  cul- 
minate where  the  secret  of  their  happiness  is,  the  throne  of  God. 

Be  watchful,  in  the  next  place,  over  your  hearts.  "  Keep  thy 
heart,"  says  one  who  spoke  from  experience,  "  with  all  diligence." 
Keep  thy  heart  with  all  diligence :  it  is  a  casket  that  a  thousand 
thieves  are  ready  to  break  open ;  it  is  a  precious  deposit  that  a 
thousand  antagonistic  forces  are  ready  to  destroy.  Watch  over 
it;  keep  it  diligently;  let  not  the  cares  of  the  world,  so  seduc- 
tive, absorb  it ;  nor  the  anxieties  of  the  world  irritate  it ;  nor  the 
fears  of  the  world  depress  it;  nor  the  forebodings  of  the  world 
agitate  it.  "  Let  not  your  hearts  be  troubled ;"  ye  believe  in 
God,  believe  also  in  Jesus. 

Be  watchful,  I  would  say,  in  the  next  place,  over  your  convic- 
tions of  truth.  If  you  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  God's 
word  is  true,  that  Christ  is  the  only  Saviour,  that  the  Bible  is  the 
only  infallible  directory,  do  not  surrender  these  convictions.  Do 
not  suppose  because  a  skeptic  starts  an  objection  which  you  can- 
not solve,  that  therefore  it  is  insoluble;  do  not  think  because  a 


•^'   INSTANT  DUTIES.    ^■"  349 

difficulty  occurs  that  you  cannot  surmount,  that  it  is  therefore  in- 
surmountable, You  would  find,  if  you  had  a  little  more  light, 
and  would  be  a  little  more  patient,  and  make  a  little  more  in- 
quiry, that  there  is  no  objection  to  God's  word  that  may  not  be 
dispersed ;  and  that  there  is  no  difficulty  in  the  way  of  the  re- 
ception of  its  most  precious  truths  which  may  not  make  us  either 
more  reverent,  or  be  removed  as  a  stumbling-block  out  of  the 
way.  Resist  therefore  the  threats  of  the  open  foe  that  would 
destroy  your  faith,  and  the  seductions  of  the  secret  foe  that  would 
undeimine  your  faith.  Do  not  let  your  creed  waver  with  your 
pulse ;  let  it  remain  as  fixed  a  thing  as  the  rock  on  which  it  is 
based ;  and  though  all  things  around  you  should  fail,  and  faint, 
and  fall,  let  your  convictions  which  you  have  gathered  from  your 
Bible,  and  have  been  taught  by  the  Spirit,  remain,  by  God's 
grace,  fixed  and  immutable  as  he  that  gave  them. 

In  the  next  place,  be  watchful  over  your  experience  and  feel- 
ings. I  meet  with  many  Christians  who  say,  "  Oh,  I  do  not  feel 
that  I  am  what  I  should  be ;  I  do  not  feel  the  peace  and  joy  I 
could  wish."  True  it  is,  and  all  of  us  must  say  so.  What  I  sug- 
gest as  the  proper  prescription  for  such  Christians  is.  We  walk, 
just  as  we  live,  not  by  feeling,  but  by  faith.  If  we  walked  by 
feeling,  we  should  be  in  heaven  or  hell.  The  very  fact  that  we 
are  here,  is  the  very  evidence  that  we  are  to  walk  by  faith,  and 
not  by  feeling.  Is  there  any  man  that  fears  who  walks  in 
darkness,  and  has  no  light?  What  is  he  to  do?  To  say  :  "Be- 
cause all  my  feelings  are  gone,  therefore  I  must  faint,  and  de- 
spair, and  die  ?  "  No,"  says  the  prophet,  "  let  him  trust  in  the 
Lord,  and  stay  himself  upon  his  Gt)d."  The  Christian  often  finds 
that  he  must  walk,  not  only  over  his  feelings,  but  against  his  feel- 
ings, and  in  spite  of  his  feelings,  and  when  all  his  feelings  are 
gone ;  but  he  still  trusts  in  an  unseen,  but  not  unknown  God, 
his  rock,  his  refuge,  his  sun,  his  shield,  his  exceeding  great  and 
unspeakable  reward. 

In  the  next  place,  let  me  call  upon  you  to  be  watchful  over,  or 
rather  against,  Satan,  I  believe  Satan  is  not,  as  the  skeptic  says, 
a  figure  of  speech,  but  an  archangel  ruined,  rcfe.ining  an  arch- 
angel's cunning,  an  archangel's  power,  an  archangel's  unwearied- 
ness ;  and  "  he  goeth  about  seeking  whom  he  may  devour."     I 

30 


350  THE  CHURCH  OF  SARDIS. 

believe  that  it  ia  the  hearts  which  are  first  opened,  by  our  un- 
watchfulness,  into  which  he  enters,  and  in  which  he  lives  as  his 
favourite  tenements.  Watch,  therefore,  against  him ;  or  rather, 
in  the  language  of  an  apostle,  "  resist"  him.  And  what  will  he 
do  ?  Fight  you,  and  master  you  ?  No ;  Satan  is  a  coward.  And 
why  is  he  so?  Because  he  was  conquered  —  "I  saw  Satan,  like 
lightning,  fall  from  heaven."  Just  as  it  is  ^ith  some  dogs ;  and 
even  as  it  is  with  the  lion  himself;  if  you  run  and  flinch,  they 
will  rush  upon  you  and  destroy  you ;  but  zoologists  will  tell  you, 
than  man's  eye  riveted  even  upon  the  ravenous  lion  of  the  wilder- 
ness, awes  the  fierce  brute  into  quiet,  and  makes  him  cringe.  A 
bold  man  is  ever  a  strong  man ;  and  in  the  case  of  resistance  to 
Satan,  he  that  resists  him  is  sure  to  conquer  him ;  but  he  that 
flees  from  him,  or  is  not  watchful  against  him,  is  sure  to  be  con- 
quered by  him. 

In  the  next  place,  be  watchful  against  sin.  It  creeps  towards 
us  with  silent,  but  destructive  miasma ;  it  stings  with  the  deadly 
venom  of  a  serpent  j  it  is  most  fatal  in  its  most  attractive  shape. 
Sin  never  approaches  us  simply  as  sin ;  nor  does  Satan  generally 
deal  with  us  simply  as  Satan.  Sin  puts  on  attractive  robes ;  it 
assumes  the  form  of  expediency,  or  profit,  or  of  pleasure ;  and  it 
is  only  after  we  have  tasted  the  pleasure  that  we  feel  the  sting 
which  is  ever  concealed  amid  its  flowers.  Be  watchful,  then, 
against  sin. 

Be  watchful,  in  the  next  place,  against  error — against  religious 
error.  It  is  generally  associated  with  sin.  More  heresy  is  con- 
nected with  sin  than  we  are  disposed  to  imagine.  The  heart,  I 
believe,  has  a  more  powerful  influence  over  the  head,  than  the 
head  has  over  the  heart.  Error  first  darkens  the  understanding, 
and  then  the  heart  is  opened  to  the  reception  of  sin ;  and  when 
sin  has  entered  into  the  heart,  it  again  reacts  and  darkens  the 
understanding,  and  makes  it  more  accessible  to  error.  In  the 
present  day  erroneous  doctrines  will  approach  you  in  the  guise  of 
reason,  of  Church  authority,  of  humility,  of  reverence,  putting  on 
robes  and  colours  as  false  as  they  are  seductive  and  perilous. 
There  is  the  Legalist  that  leans  upon  his  good  works,  and  expects 
salvation  by  them ;  there  is  the  Antinomian  that  professes  to  lean 
on  JesuS;  but  lives  in  sin,  and  delights  in  doing  so;  there  are 


INSTANT  DUTIES.  851 

those  that  despise  all  order,  and  there  are  those  that  make  a  god 
of  order  J  there  are  those  that  lose  man's  responsibility  in  God's 
sovereignty,  and  there  are  those  that  lose  God's  sovereignty  in 
man's  responsibility ;  there  is  Scylla  on  the  right,  and  Charybdis 
on  the  left ;  and  only  by  fastening  the  eye  on  the  ''  bright  and 
Morning  Star,"  can  we  steer  in  safety  between,  and  reach  the 
haven  of  rest  that  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God. 

Be  watchful,  in  the  next  place,  if  I  may  use  the  expression, 
against  watchlessness.  We  are  often  disposed  not  to  anticipate 
heaven  as  an  encouragement  more  ardently  to  pursue  it,  but  to 
suppose  that  we  are  already  arrived  there.  We  sleep  like  a  sen- 
tinel who  is  unfaithful  at  his  post ;  we  sheathe  the  sword,  as  if 
the  battle  were  done ;  we  shut  our  eyes,  and  cry.  Peace,  peace, 
when  there  is  no  peace  at  all.  Like  the  Laodicean  Church,  we 
say,  We  are  "  rich,  and  increased  with  goods,  and  have  need  of 
nothing,"  at  the  time  we  may  be  poor,  and  blind,  and  wretched, 
and  miserable,  and  destitute  of  all  things.  Let  us,  then,  ever  be 
awake  as  the  children  of  the  day,  and  watch  against  that  apathy, 
indifference,  and  sleep,  which  lead  to  the  betrayal  of  our  trust, 
and  to  the  loss  of  our  blessedness. 

In  the  next  place,  let  me  ask  you  to  be  watchful  against  infi- 
delity. It  is  putting  up  its  head,  in  the  present  day;  it  is  as- 
suming new  aspects,  putting  on  new  attractions.  It  always  has 
this  attraction  to  the  natural  man,  that  it  will  allow  him  to  live 
as  he  likes.  In  the  present  day  it  assumes  all  forms  that  are 
tempting  to  the  young.  It  leads  the  young  man,  whose  intellect 
just  begins  to  expand  into  vigour  and  maturity,  to  fancy  that  to 
be  able  to  laugh  at  Christianity  is  to  indicate  a  noble  and  mag- 
nanimous mind ;  and  that  to  be  able  to  treat  with  scorn  and  con- 
tempt the  Church,  the  ministry,  and  the  Bible,  is  to  burst  the 
shackles  of  early  prejudice,  and  to  assert  for  one's  self  an  inde- 
pendence and  freedom,  noble  and  worthy  of  humanity.  We  have 
its  latest  developments  in  the  pantheism  of  Emerson ;  and  in  the 
miserable  and  extravagant  whims  of  Strauss;  and  in  the  vaunting 
glories  of  those  who  boast  that  a  new  era  of  progress  is  beginning, 
and,  as  they  blasphemously  say,  that  new  Messiahs  arc  to  be  ex- 
pected. But  whatever  the  shape  it  assumes,  whatever  the  ground 
on  which  it  builds,  it  is  the  un-spent  echo  of  the  voice  of  the  old 


352  ^       THE  CHURCH  OF  SABDIS. 

fool  who,  three  thousand  years  ago,  cried  in  his  folly,  "  No  God." 
"  The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart,  There  is  no  Grod."  I  say  to  my 
young  hearers  before  me.  Remember,  that  licentiousness  is  not 
liberty;  that  rationalism  is  not  reason;  that  the  rejection  of 
Christianity  is  not  progress :  and  that  man  truly  degrades,  not 
dignifies,  himself,  who  boasts  that  he  has  got  beyond  the  Bible, 
and  landed  in  the  knowledge  of  a  philosophy  brighter,  better, 
purer,  nobler  than  it. 

Let  me  call  upon  you  to  be  watchful,  not  only  against  infidelity, 
but  also  against  popery.  In  its  principle,  and  in  its  full  expan- 
sion— in  its  bud  and  in  its  blossom,  it  makes  way.  I  heard  only 
the  other  day,  that  the  Romanists  are  to  build  a  magnificent 
popish  cathedral  in  Edinburgh.  I  need  not  remind  you  that  a 
decision  has  been  come  to  in  one  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Courts  in 
England,  by  Sir  Herbert  Jenner  Fust,  in  the  Exeter  dispute, 
(but  which,  I  rejoice  to  say,  is  not  final ;  for  if  it  were  final  it 
would  be  awful,)  that  baptismal  regeneration  is  the  doctrine  of 
the  Church  of  England — that  every  man  who  is  baptized,  be  he 
what  he  may,  is  a  child  of  God,  a  member  of  Christ,  and  an  in- 
heritor of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Now  I  do  not  believe  that 
this  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England.  I  lament  the 
phraseology  of  one  of  its  services ;  but  I  am  satisfied  from  what 
"I  know  of  the  writings  of  Cranmer  and  Latimer,  and  Ridley,  and 
from  the  correspondence  of  those  who  compiled  the  liturgy,  with 
some  of  the  reformers  on  the  Continent,  that  they  never  meant 
to  convey  that  doctrine,  however  liable  to  misapplication  their 
language  may  be,  and  I  do  submit  that  it  is  so.  But  if  this  de- 
cision be  not  reversed  by  the  Queen  in  Council,  who,  with  the 
archbishops,  I  believe,  is  the  last  tribunal  of  appeal,  then  the  re- 
sult will  be — what  prophecy  leads  us  to  conclude  is  coming — the 
utter  rending  into  atoms  of  the  whole  Church  of  England,  along 
with  other  establishments.  I  have  told  you  that  when  great 
Babylon  falls,  the  cities  of  all  the  nations  begin  to  fall.  The 
tokens,  and  foreshadows,  of  that  day  we  see  at  this  moment 
spreading  over  the  whole  earth.  I  sincerely  hope  that  the  deci- 
sion which  has  been  come  to  will  be  reversed.  I  rejoice  to  know 
that  the  Archbishop  of  York  has  written  a  most  admirable  charge, 
in  which  he  denounces  this  doctrine  in  language  worthy  of  John 


INSTANT  DUTIES.  353 

Knox,  and  with  a  faithfulness  worthy  of  a  Christian  Minister. 
If,  therefore,  this  decision  be  final,  he  resigns  his  Archbishopric 
as  a  matter  of  course ;  and  no  doubt  he  will  have  grace  to  do  so. 
I  must  say,  if  it  be  final,  then  I  should  grieve  and  mourn  over 
the  ruin  of  a  communion  to  which  Christendom  is  profoundly  in- 
debted for  the  noblest  works  on  theology,  and  the  most  splendid 
contributions  to  the  Christian  literature  of  the  Church.  But  I 
hope  it  is  not  final ;  I  pray  it  may  not  be  so.  All  this,  however, 
is  evidence  irresistible,  and  apparent  to  every  one,  that  the  Pope 
and  Satan  are  busy,  and  that  the  last  spasmodic  efibrt  of  the 
Popedom  is  now  made  to  affect  every  church  and  all  society  with 
that  deadly  and  pestiferous  poison,  which  is  infidelity  in  its  es- 
sence— but  infidelity  far  more  perilous  than  that  of  Strauss,  for 
it  is  clothed  in  the  splendid  robes,  and  speaks  the  hallowed  lan- 
guage of  Christianity  itself.  Be  separate,  then,  from  it;  have 
nothing  to  do  with  it ;  never  for  one  moment  admit  the  doctrine 
that  any  priest  has  power  to  make  a  new  heart,  or  that  any 
church  has  the  privilege  and  the  monopoly  of  making  a  man  a 
Christian:  listen  to  no  teaching,  however  eloquent;  hear  no 
minister,  however  consistent  may  be  his  life,  who  would  put  the 
priest  in  the  room  of  Jesus,  the  teaching  of  the  Church  in  the 
room  of  the  Bible,  splendid  forms  in  the  place  of  a  spiritual  wor- 
ship, a  corporate  ecclesiastical  responsibility  in  the  room  of  per- 
sonal responsibility  to  God  for  what  we  believe,  and  love,  and 
live,  and  do  before  him. 

I  have  thus  then  given  you,  what  I  cannot  imprint  upon  the 
heart,  but  what  I  pray  that  the  Spirit  of  God  may,  —  a  few  pre- 
scriptions based  upon  the  words,  "Be  watchful."  Let  me  now 
turn  your  attention  to  the  sequel :  "  Strengthen  the  things  that 
are  ready  to  die." 

In  these  Christians  there  were  some  things  that  were  ready  to 
die.  My  dear  friends,  Christianity,  notwithstanding  all  its  beauty, 
its  inherent  immortality  and  life,  would  die  in  this  world  if  it 
were  not  constantly  watched,  fostered,  and  sustained  by  God 
himself.  I  say,  Christianity  and  Christians  would  die  if  they 
were  not  sustained  by  Christ  himself,  and  fed  continually  by 
him. 

Let  me  ask  you,  are  your  graces  ready  to  die  ?    Has  your  faith, 

30  « 


354  THE  CHURCH  OF  SARDIS. 

which  was  once  able  to  remove  mountains,  grown  incrusted  into 
mere  sense  ?  Has  your  hope,  which  once  glowed  and  flamed  till 
it  aspired  to  the  firmament  itself,  folded  its  wings,  and  settled 
down  upon  the  earth,  and  become  a  miserable  drudge?  Has 
your  holiness  lost  its  pristine  bloom,  and  parted  with  its  early 
and  its  heavenly  beauty  ?  Has  your  gold  gathered  dross  ?  Is 
your  wine  mixed  with  water?  Is  the  flame  become  smoke?  Is 
the  pulse  feeble  at  the  wrist  ?  Does  the  soul  give  token  that  it 
is  ready  to  die  ?  Has  your  love  of  the  world  grown  with  your 
years,  so  that  instead  of  being  more  detached  from  it,  you  have 
become  more  and  more  glued  to  the  things  that  are  perishing? 
Is  there  less  separation  from  the  world  ?  Do  you  say,  "  My 
separation  from  the  world  when  I  was  younger,  was  prejudice, 
mcthodism,  fanaticism;  I  may  now  take  a  step  further;  I  may 
associate  with  some  whom  formerly  I  could  not  associate  with, 
and  indulge  in  things  I  formerly  repudiated  ?"  Is  your  love  for 
the  sabbath  less  ?  Is  your  liking  for  the  sanctuary,  for  the  ser- 
mon, for  prayer,  for  communion,  fainter,  feebler,  dying  ?  Then, 
my  dear  friends,  you  are  in  jeopardy;  your  graces  are  ready  to 
expire ;  you  are  called  upon  to  rekindle  them  at  the  sun,  to  re- 
fresh them  in  the  fountain ;  to  strengthen  them  by  appealing  to 
God's  strength,  lest  they  wholly  die.  All  winds  are  ready  to 
blow  out  that  holy  flame ;  all  waves  are  ready  to  quench  that  holy 
heart ;  it  needs  the  watchfulness  of  the  Christian,  the  protection 
of  the  Christian's  God,  to  keep  you  from  falling,  and  to  present 
you  faultless  before  the  presence  of  his  glory  with  exceeding  joy. 
But,  my  dear  friends,  recollect  that  when  we  begin  a  downward 
path,  it  is  like  a  stone  rolling  down  an  inclined  plane  or  a  hill ; 
its  velocity  accelerates  the  further  it  goes.  The  first  step  is  the 
important  one.  We  have  this  beautifully  sketched  in  the  first 
Psalm  :  "  Blessed  is  the  man  that  walketh  not  in  the  counsel  of 
the  ungodly,  nor  standeth  in  the  way  of  sinners,  nor  sitteth  in 
the  seat  of  the  scornful."  Notice  the  progression.  First  of  all 
there  is  the  umjodhj.  Who  are  they  ?  Persons  who  are  moral, 
but  have  no  vital  religion.  Then  next,  there  are  the  sinners  — 
that  is,  persons  who  live  in  the  practice  of  open  sin.  Thirdly, 
there  are  scornful  persons,  who  are  skeptics,  and  despise  Chris- 
tianity.    When  a  person  begins  to  decline,  and  his  Christianity 


•     INSTANT  DUTIES.  355 

begins  to  die,  he  walks,  first,  in  the  counsel  of  the  ungodly  — 
those  who  have  no  religion,  but  who  are  moral  persons ;  next,  he 
is  found  in  the  way  of  sinners — those  who  are  practically  wicked ; 
and  lastly,  he  is  found  among  the  scorncrs,  or  those  that  laugh  at 
all  religion.  First  of  all  he  walks  in  the  counsel  of  the  ungodly ; 
then  he  takes  a  further  step,  and  stands  in  the  way  of  sinners  j 
and  then  he  takes  his  last  step  of  all,  and  sits  down  in  the  chair 
of  the  scorner. 

Such  is  the  progression  from  life  to  death  —  from  things  that 
are  living,  to  "things  that  are  ready  to  die."  35ut  the  prescrip- 
tion here  is,  Strengthen  these  things.  IIow  are  you  to  strengthen 
them  ?  Can  man  strengthen  them  ?  No ;  you  can  no  more 
strengthen  a  single  grace  within  you  than  by  any  action  or  com- 
bination of  muscles  you  can  lift  yourself  from  the  ground.  By 
your  muscles  you  can  move  to  one  side  or  to  the  other,  forward 
or  backward,  but  no  concentration  of  muscular  energy  can  lift  a 
man  by  himself  from  the  ground.  Neither  can  anything  in  man's 
soul  save  himself,  or  strengthen,  or  implant,  or  increase,  within 
him  a  single  grace  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  We  can  move  right  or 
left,  but  up  we  cannot  move  until  God  draw  us  by  Christ,  the 
Magnet  of  the  universe,  drawn  to  whom  we  shall  rise  under  that 
attraction  which  leaves  us  not  till  we  are  in  glory.  Civilization, 
science,  morals,  decency,  outward  opinion,  public  influence,  may 
and  do  improve  man  in  things  that  are  outward ;  but  every  influ- 
ence that  man  can  exert,  merely  lifts  him  out  of  one  place  into 
another.  If  some  filings  of  iron  were  placed  in  the  mud,  I  coujd 
lift  them  from  the  mud  in  the  street  into  the  beautiful  mown 
grass ;  and  the  change  would  be  a  good  and  valuable  one ;  but  if 
I  pass  over  these  filings  a  magnet,  it  lifts  them  not  merely  from 
the  mud  into  the  beautiful  parterre,  (so  far  an  improvement,)  but 
it  lifts  them  up  from  the  earth,  and  gives  them  a  vertical  direc- 
tion. Now,  every  influence  that  man  can  exert  upon  man  is 
horizontal ;  it  may  move  him  from  one  degree  of  morality  to  an- 
other, or  it  may  improve  him  outwardly,  or  alter  his  external 
appearance,  and  his  external  doings :  but  until  the  great  Magnet 
of  the  universe  pass  over  him  and  give  him  a  vertical  direction, 
lifting  him  from  earth  to  the  skies,  from  the  world  to  God,  he 
will  be  still  dead  in  trespasses  and  in  sins. 


356  THE  CHURCH  OF  SARDIS. 

Then  you  ask,  how  are  you  to  strengthen  the  things  that  are 
ready  to  die  ?  I  answer,  by  prayer :  not  that  prayer  is  the  foun- 
dation of  strength,  but  it  is  the  key  that  unlocks  the  fountain  of 
strength.  When  I  say  that  we  are  to  strengthen  these  things  by 
prayer,  it  is  because  God  has  promised  to  hear  prayer.  Prayer 
draws  down  celestial  strength ;  it  gathers  over  you  the  shield  of 
omnipotence ;  it  lays  you  under  the  folded  wings  of  the  Son  of 
God.  Let  me  ask  you  then.  Do  you  pray  ?  In  your  closet,  in 
your  homes,  in  your  shops,  amid  all  the  roar  of  the  wheels  of  this 
world,  one  single  utterance  of  the  heart  —  "0  God,  save  me, 
sanctify  me,  pardon  me,"  rises,  and  is  heard  where  the  seven 
thunders  are,  and  louder  than  them  all.  Amid  all  the  clouds  and 
smoke  of  this  world,  amid  all  its  confusion,  its  darkness,  its  per- 
plexity, a  sinner  upon  his  knees  supplicating  forgiveness  is  seen 
from  the  throne  of  God,  and  beheld  there  as  the  most  beautiful 
spectacle  that  earth  presents.  Do  you  pray  ?  It  is  God's  great 
ordinance,  in  the  use  of  which  he  strengthens  "  the  things  that 
remain  and  that  are  ready  to  die." 

Another  means  by  which  you  are  to  strengthen  them,  is  by 
reading  God's  holy  word.  A  Persian  poet  says,  a  flower  that 
grows  near  the  rose  scents  of  the  rose.  So  you  will  find  that  con- 
tact with  God's  word  always  exerts  upon  the  soul  a  sanctifying 
and  ennobling  and  enlightening  effect.  Let  me  ask  you  then, 
Do  you  read  God's  holy  word  ?  If  you  do,  you  will  be  like  a 
tree  planted  by  the  rivers  of  water,  that  will  bring  forth  its  fruit 
in  due  season.  Take  a  Bible  with  references,  or  with  notes  that 
are  clear  and  plain,  and  study  it — not,  however,  large  portions 
of  it  at  a  time.  Take  a  portion,  however  small,  every  day,  and 
try  to  understand  it,  and  pray  that  the  Spirit  of  God  would  enable 
you  to  understand  it.  Take  with  you  into  the  world  some  Bible 
text;  imprint  upon  your  hearts  some  bright,  musical  promise; 
and  it  will,  by  God's  blessing,  have  a  sustaining  and  strengthen- 
ing effect. 

Strengthen  the  things  that  are  ready  to  die  by  waiting  upon 
the  ordinances  of  God,  upon  the  worship  of  God,  on  the  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel.  I  know  that  many  say,  and  say  truly,  that 
if  they  stop  at  home,  they  can  read  a  sermon  far  more  argumen- 
tative, eloquent,  and  beautiful  than  anything  that  any  man  in 


INSTANT  DUTIES.  867 

London  can  preach  from  tlie  pulpit.  This  is  perfectly  true ;  but 
there  is  just  this  difference — that  you  come  to  the  house  of  God, 
not  merely  to  hear  a  sermon,  but  you  come  to  pray  —  to  join  in 
public  prayer;  you  come  to  praise  —  to  join  in  public  praise; 
which  is  an  ordinance  of  God.  When  you  hear  a  sermon  preached* 
from  the  pulpit,  you  not  only  hear  a  man  speak,  but  you  listen 
and  do  honour  to  an  ordinance  that  God  has  instituted,  in  ob- 
serving and  honouring  which  God  has  promised  to  come  and  bless 
you.  And  more  than  this ;  you  know  quite  well  that  there  is  a 
power,  as  there  is  a  freedom,  in  the  spoken  word  which  there  is 
not  in  the  written  or  printed  word.  In  explaining  the  Bible  to 
you,  I  could  not  write  down  all  I  say :  I  feel  far  more  freedom  in 
talking  to  you  with  my  lips  than  ever  I  could  do  in  sitting  down 
to  write  with  my  pen.  You  know  quite  well  that  a  truth  which 
has  slipped  your  mind  and  left  no  impression  when  you  read  it, 
has,  when  spoken  from  the  pulpit,  entered  the  ear,  and  sunk  into 
the  heart,  and  has  never  forsaken  you  nor  been  forgotten  by  you. 
You  yourselves  give  testimony  to  this  when  you  tell  me  what  you 
have  told  me  with  regard  to  my  own  preaching.  You  have  heard 
me  preach  a  sermon ;  and  some  one  in  this  congregation  has  felt, 
as  I  bless  God  I  hear  some  do  feel,  it  to  be  blessed  to  him.  The 
sermon  perhaps  is  printed,  and  you  read  it ;  it  has  been  taken 
down,  as  many  of  them  have  been,  verbatim  ;  but  when  you  read 
it  you  say,  "  This  is  not  the  sermon  I  heard."  It,  however,  is 
the  very  same ;  it  is  so,  verbatim.  But  yet,  there  is  that  in  the 
living  voice,  speaking  to  living  men,  which  there  is  not  in  the 
dead  types,  speaking  to  the  looking  and  the  most  attentive  eye. 
God,  therefore,  has  laid  hold  of  the  best  instrumentality  to  do  the 
best  results.  You  know,  too,  in  preaching,  how  much  more  use- 
ful to  you  is  the  freedom  of  a  preacher  who  does  not  read  his 
sermons,  than  the  preaching  of  one  who  reads  them.  I  do  not 
think  reading  sermons  is  best.  I  like  myself  best  to  hear  them 
read,  because  I  am  often  better  satisfied  with  them ;  but  I  am 
convinced  that  the  living  speaker,  speaking  the  thoughts  that  are 
^n  his  soul  in  language  furnished  to  him  at  the  moment,  does 
speak  with  a  power  and  demonstration  and  effect — notwithstand- 
ing his  little  inelegancies,  his  periods  not  so  well  rounded,  his 
sentences  not  so  perfectly  finished  for  critical  cars  —  with  which 


S58  THE  CHURCH  OP  SARDIS. 

you  never  can  be  addressed  from  sermons  merely  read  from 
manuscripts.  I  am  no  fanatic ;  I  am  sure  you  will  acquit  me  of 
that ;  but  I  know  that  the  best  thoughts  I  have  ever  spoken  to 
you,  and  the  thoughts  that  I  know  have  been  most  blessed  to 
you,  are  the  thoughts  that  never  occurred  to  me  in  my  study, 
but  that  have  sprung  up  in  my  heart  at  the  moment  I  have  been 
speaking,  suggested  often  by  that  attentive  face  that  looked  to 
me  there,  and  by  that  riveted  eye  that  was  fixed  upon  me  here, 
and  by  that  silent  listening  that  was  perceptible  elsewhere.  I 
am  persuaded,  therefore,  that  God  speaks  to  his  ministers  in  the 
pulpit,  and  there  through  his  ministers  to  the  people.  I  do  not 
say,  that  to  read  one's  sermons  (because  good  men  do  so,  greater 
and  better  men  than  I,)  is  to  dishonour  the  Holy  Grhost;  but  I 
do  say  that  in  my  case,  and  in  my  experience,  it  would  be  parting 
with  an  element  of  power  and  a  means  of  good  which  I  would 
not  resign  for  the  whole  world.  But  do  not  suppose  that  by 
extemporaneous  preaching  I  mean  going  into  the  pulpit  and  say- 
ing what  comes  uppermost.  Though  I  do  not  write  my  sermons, 
it  costs  me  hard  and  weary  thinking,  often  followed  by  many  a 
sleepless  night,  to  prepare  them.  It  does  not  follow  that  because 
a  man  does  not  write  his  sermons,  that  therefore  he  does  not  study 
them.  It  is  quite  possible  to  write  in  the  most  extemporaneous 
manner,  as  it  is  to  speak  in  the  most  extemporaneous  manner. 
Sermons  that  are  written  may  be  the  most  random  shots ;  ser- 
mons that  are  not  written  may  be  the  results  of  the  deepest  study, 
meditation,  and  prayer.  A  sermon,  my  dear  friends,  will  always 
be  blessed  to  you,  when,  in  your  homes,  in  your  closets,  and  when 
you  seat  yourselves  in  these  pews,  you  lift  up  your  hearts  to  him 
who  can  give  unction  to  the  minister's  lip,  and  open  the  people's 
heart,  and  pray  that  he  will  be  pleased  to  give  his  servant  a  word 
in  season  that  will  be  blessed  to  you. 

Then  the  text  concludes  :  "  Remember  also  how  thou  hast  re- 
ceived." What  are  you  to  remember  ?  Remember  what  a  free 
Gospel  is  sounded  in  your  ears ;  remember  what  golden  opportu- 
nities you  have,  that  are  passing  with  the  rapidity  of  angels* 
wings  J  what  solemn  responsibilities  you  have  incurred ;  what 
encouragements  you  have;  —  remember  these  things,  and  repent 
of  the  past,  and  take  courage  for  the  future.     "  Remember  how 


INSTANT  DUTIES.  359 

thou  hast  received ;"  at  what  a  price  your  privileges  have  been 
purchased,  at  what  a  sacrifice  these  have  been  perpetuated  j  in 
spite  of  what  unworthiness  these  have  been  continued. 

And  while  you  "remember  how  thou  hast  received,"  "bo 
watchful,  and  strengthen  the  things  which  remain  and  are  ready 
to  die,"  lest  Christ  come  upon  you  in  judgment,  in  an  hour  when 
ye  think  not.  All  things  encourage  you  to  do  so.  God  waits  to 
strengthen  you.  You  have  only  to  ask.  God  waits  to  bless  you. 
You  have  only  to  open  your  heart  to  receive  the  blessing.  Do 
not,  my  dear  friends,  misunderstand  what  Christianity  is.  It  is 
not  calling  upon  you  to  do  something,  to  suflFer  something,  to  pay 
something,  but  to  receive  something,  perfect,  complete,  and 
finished  already.  It  is  asking  you  to  believe,  and  be  saved ;  to 
look  to  and  lean  on  God's  love,  as  that  love  comes  through  the 
channel  of  Christ's  sacrifice,  and  is  applied  to  you  by  Christ's 
Spirit ;  and  so  looking,  so  leaning,  so  believing,  you  shall  have  a 
life  that  will  outlast  the  earth,  and  shine  only  more  beautiful 
when  the  firmament  and  all  things  seen  shall  have  been  burned 
up  and  passed  away  like  a  parched  scroll. 


^.i^.  .^.^l': 


LECTUKE  XXn. 


THE    WALK    IN    WHITE. 


"  Thou  hast  a  few  names  even  in  Sardis  which  have  not  defiled  their  gar- 
ments; and  they  shall  walk  with  me  in  white;  for  they  are  worthy."  —  Rev. 
iii.  4. 

I  ADDRESSED  you  some  time  ago  upon  the  introductory  part 
of  the  address  of  our  Lord  to  the  Church  of  Sardis :  "  I  know 
thy  works,  that  thou  hast  a  name  that  thou  livest,  and  art  dead." 
I  endeavoured  to  explain  what  such  a  dead  state  of  religious  pro- 
fession may  be  construed  to  mean. 

But  after  this  part  of  his  address,  which  declares  the  dark  and 
unpromising  condition  of  the  Church  of  Sardis,  our  Lord  indi- 
cates that  in  the  midst  of  the  enveloping  darkness  there  were 
scattered  and  beautiful  lights  —  that  notwithstanding  the  all  but 
universal  hypocrisy,  there  were  true  men,  and  good  men,  and 
faithful  left :  "  Thou  hast  a  few  names  even  in  Sardis  [bad  as  it 
is,]  which  have  not  defiled  their  garments ;  and  they  shall  walk 
with  me  in  white  :  for  they  are  worthy." 

"  Name"  is  used  in  Scripture  as  a  synonyme  for  person.  We 
find  it  so  used,  for  instance,  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  (ch.  i. 
15),  where  we  read  that  "  the  number  of  names  together  were 
about  an  hundred  and  twenty."  No  doubt,  therefore,  the  word 
"  name"  is  used  in  Scripture,  and  here  unquestionably,  to  denote 
a  person.  In  this  world  names  too  frequently  stand  in  all  their 
ancient  and  just  expressiveness,  while  the  realities  of  which  they 
were  originally  the  exponents  have  utterly  departed.  In  this 
age  the  meanest  men  often  wear  the  most  magnificent  names; 
but  in  the  spiritual  world,  and  in  the  word  of  God,  we  find  our- 
selves in  the  world  of  realities,  and  things  are  precisely  what  they 

(3G0) 


THE  WALK  IN  WHITE.  361 

sound.  Perhaps  one  design  of  the  use  of  the  word  "  name"  in 
this  passage  may  be,  that  the  contrast  may  more  clearly  appear  to 
the  expression  in  the  first  verse  :  "  Thou  hast  a  name  that  thou 
livest."  If  there  be  many  depraved  in  the  Church  of  Sardis, 
our  Lord  says  they  are  not  all  so ;  if  there  be  there  names  the 
most  significant  in  sound,  but  the  most  untrue  in  their  applica- 
tion, it  is  not  so  universally ;  there  are  even  there  names  that  are 
the  exponents  of  character,  and  the  persons  that  wear  them  are 
better  and  nobler  than  the  most  eloquent  and  high-sounding  titles 
they  bear :  if  there  be  those  who  have  an  expressive  name  to 
conceal  the  features  of  the  soul  that  is  dead,  there  are,  at  the 
same  time,  those  who  have  names  which  are  the  inadequate  and 
unequal  exponents  of  their  features,  their  history,  and  their 
worth,  "  Thou  hast  a  few  names  even  in  Sardis  which  have  not 
defiled  their  garments."  Seldom,  therefore,  we  conclude,  is  the 
Church  of  Christ  so  corrupt  that  there  are  no  true  Christians  in 
it.  There  is  no  Church  in  Christendom  all  of  whose  members 
are  Christians ;  and  there  is  no  Church  in  Christendom  in  which 
th<ft  are  not  some  Christians.  In  ancient  times  there  was  a 
Noah  in  the  midst  of  the  all  but. universal  apostasy  of  the  ante- 
diluvian world;  there  was  a  Lot  in  the  midst  of  Sodom;  an 
Abraham  in  the  midst  of  Ur;  a  Job  in  the  land  of  Uz.  The 
sky  is  rarely  so  overcast  that  one  or  two  bright  stars  may  not  be 
detected  through  some  chink;  the  Alps  and  the  Appenines  are 
not  so  frost-bitten  and  blasted  that  there  blooms  not  here  and 
there  a  solitary  violet  that,  sought  out,  will  be  found  to  repay  by 
its  beauty  and  fragrance  him  that  seeks  it.  There  is  rarely  a 
wilderness  so  bleak  that  there  is  not  a  spring,  or  an  oasis,  or  a 
tree  in  it.  When  Ahab  had  destroyed  the  prophets  of  the  Lord, 
and  Elijah  thought  he  was  alone,  there  were  seven  thousand,  in- 
visible to  him,  who  had  not  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal;  and  in 
Malachi's  days,  when  almost  the  whole  Church  had  apostatised, 
there  was  still  a  remnant  that  "  feared  the  Lord,  and  spake  often 
to  one  another ;"  and  God  entered  their  names  in  the  book  of 
his  remembrance,  and  promised  that  they  should  be  his  in  that 
day  when  he  should  make  up  his  jewels. 

Here  then  we  derive  —  first,  comfort  that  there  is  no  Church 
50  depraved  that  there  are  not  some  good  people  in  it;  and, 

31 


362  THE  CHURCH  OF  SARDIS. 

secondly,  wo  are  taught  that  Christ's  promise,  which  says  the 
Church  of  Rome  has  failed,  if  she  he  not  the  true  Church,  is 
notwithstanding  fulfilled,  because  there  are  still  at  least  two  or 
three  Christians  to  be  found  upon  the  earth  —  "  Lo,  I  am  with 
you  alway,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world."  Find  three  .Chris- 
tians left,  and  Christ's  promise  is  seen  to  be  true.  Every  living 
Christian  is  a  living  temple  in  which  the  Lord  dwells  —  an  evi- 
dence that  he  has  not  forsaken  his  Church — a  proof  that  miracle? 
arc  in  the  midst  of  it :  for  the  greatest  of  all  miracles  is  the 
transformation  of  a  corrupt  heart,  and  the  quickening  of  a  dead 
one.  Let  us  also  rejoice  that  the  few  found  in  the  midst  of  a 
Church,  or  in  the  bosom  of  a  city,  or  in  the  situations,  the  offices, 
and  the  high  places  of  a  land,  are  the  substance  of  that  Church, 
the  safety  of  that  city,  the  real  patriots  —  the  best  muniments 
and  battlements  of  the  land  in  which  they  live.  God  would  not 
rain  his  judgments  on  Sodom  until  Lot  had  escaped  from  the 
midst  of  it,  nor  would  he  pour  down  the  vials  of  his  wrath  upoa 
Jerusalem,  justly  and  long  fore-doomed  of  God,  until  the  Chris- 
tians had  escaped  and  were  all  lodged  in  Pella.  In  the  ^o- 
calypse  it  is  declared  that  Great  Babylon  shall  not  be  utterly  con- 
sumed until  God's  people  in  the  midst  of  it  have  heard  the 
warning  cry,  and  have  rushed  to  the  true  ark,  there  to  find  a 
shelter  in  the  midst  of  the  judgments  which  are  destined  to 
alight  upon  the  world  and  the  apostasy  together.  Let  us,  then, 
never  forget  that  the  highest  Christianity  is  the  highest  patrio- 
tism—  that  the  strongest  pillar  that  sustains  the  throne  and  sup- 
ports the  state,  is  the  Christian — that  the  moment  Christianity  is 
exhausted  from  a  nation's  life,  the  oxygen  is  gone  from  its  at- 
mosphere, the  life-blood  is  emptied  from  its  system,  and  all  its 
institutions  and  economy  must  fall  asunder  like  ropes  of  sand, 
that  have  no  cohesion  or  binding  power  to  keep  them  in  unity. 
Let  us  then  feel  —  truly  feel  —  that  when  we  spread  the  Gospel, 
we  augment  the  element  which  contributes  most  efiiectually  to 
the  safety,  the  strength,  and  the  perpetuity  of  our  father  land ; 
and  not  only  so,  but  when  we  spread  the  Gospel  in  the  midst  of 
the  poorest  and  most  destitute  localities  of  that  land,  we  do  that 
which  will  extinguish  all  the  elements  of  revolution,  and  raise 
the  people,  purify,  ennoble  them.     At  the  same  time,  I  cannot 


THE  WAIiK  IN  WHITE.  369 

but  add,  as  I  have  often  said  before,  notwithstanding  all  the 
efforts  of  the  City  Mission,  of  Scripture  Readers,  of  Parochial 
Ministers,  and  Ministers  of  every  denomination,  the  hope  of 
evangelizing  the  masses  in  London  is  distant  indeed,  unless  some- 
thing be  done,  not  merely  to  ameliorate,  but  humanize  their  now 
brutalized  physical  and  sanitary  condition.  I  was  speaking  this 
morning  in  this  church  to  a  physician  who  belongs  to  the  Board 
of  Health,  and  who  has  been  visiting  the  worst  parts  of  Salis- 
bury, London,  and  other  places;  and  he  told  me  (and  I  wish 
those  were  now  present  who  are  usually  present  at  an  earlier 
season  of  the  year,)  that  the  dogs  of  noblemen  and  gentlemen 
are  treated  in  a  way  that  the  poor  in  this  great  metropolis  are 
absolute  strangers  to.  We  hear  of  the  pestilence  in  the  midst 
of  us.  The  wonder  is,  that  instead  of  hundreds,  it  does  not 
mow  down  its  hundreds  of  thousands.  This  great  judgment  is 
sent  upon  us  greatly  and  mainly  to  stir  up  those  that  have,  to  do 
something  for  those  poor,  destitute,  hunger-bitten,  perishing 
creatures  in  the  midst  of  us,  who  are  strangers  to  a  blanket,  to  a 
fire,  and  nourishing  food. 

Were  an  angel  to  come  to  our  country  from  the  skies,  and  to 
read  upon  our  coins  —  our  half-pence,  our  pence,  our  shillings, 
our  sovereigns — what  I  rejoice  to  read,  but  what  I  grieve  to  add 
is  omitted  on  the  last  new  coin  introduced  to  our  currency — Dei 
gratia,  "  By  the  grace  of  God ;"  and  were  this  stranger  from 
another  world  to  hear  us  say  that  we  are  a  Christian  nation ;  and 
were  he  then  taken  to  some  of  the  dens  and  alleys  in  St.  Giles's, 
to  Field  Lane,  and  the  east  end  and  south  side  of  London,  and 
allowed  to  witness  the  awful  scenes  in  those  localities,  where  man 
is  brutalized — nay,  sunk  below  the  brutes  —  and  were  he  also  to 
be  told  that  on  the  body  of  a  poor  woman  being  brought  before 
a  coroner's  inquest,  it  is  proved  upon  evidence  irresistible  that  by 
making  shirts,  (and  this  is  your  cheap  goods,  and  your  cheap 
market  system  !)  she  earns  one  shilling  a-week,  that  she  has  not 
tasted  animal  food  for  six  months,  and  that  the  threat  of  her 
master  to  reduce  her  pittance  to  sixpence  a-week  was  the  last 
stroke  which,  too  severe  for  her  to  stand,  struck  her  down  the 
ripe  victim  for  cholera ;  and  were  he  again  reminded  that  this  is 
a  Christian  land, — would  he  not  feel  that  it  was  a  mockery,  an 


364  THE  CHURCH  OF  SARDIS. 

insult,  or  irony  the  most  derisive,  to  call  us  so  ?  My  dear  friends, 
you  may  depend  upon  it,  until  the  rick  will  unscrew  one,  two,  or 
three  pegs,  and  come  down,  and  minister  to  the  wants  and  neces- 
sities of  the  poor  far  more  munificently  than  heretofore,  disclo- 
sures of  conditions  that  will  shock  every  man  that  hears  of  them 
will  be  more  frequent;  and  greater  and  more  terrible  judgments 
will  overtake  our  land  still.  The  judgment  that  is  in  the  midst 
of  us  now  is  intended  among  other  things  to  lead  us  to  sympathise 
with  the  poor,  to  visit  and  elevate  and  minister  to  them.  It  is  a 
remarkable  feature  in  the  word  of  God,  that  his  directions  and 
prescriptions  for  the  care  of  the  poor  are  so  often  reiterated ;  his 
Gospel  is  addressed  to  the  poor,  and  there  is  no  sin  he  punishes 
more  than  the  despisal  of  the  poor.  If  this  be  the  great  beset- 
ting sin  of  this  wealthy  and  commercial  metropolis,  let  us  who 
are  here  present  try  and  mend  our  ways.  You  will  think  it  a 
very  common-place  prescription,  but  I  think  it  a  very  wholesome 
one,  when  I  advise  you,  in  purchasing  the  clothes  you  wear,  never 
to  go  to  those  places  where  you  can  get  everything  at  less  than 
cost  price  —  "dead  bargains"  —  "tremendous  sacrifices,"  and 
almost  for  nothing.  When  I  read  the  evidence  that  is  given,  and 
the  tales  that  are  told  before  coroners'  inquests,  I  feel  it  is  a 
sacred  Christian  duty  for  every  man  to  go  to  respectable  trades- 
men for  all  he  wears,  and  give  a  proper  price  for  what  he  pur- 
chases, and  be  satisfied. 

That  dire  and  terrible  grinding,  by  which  our  commerce  is 
characterised,  the  sacrifice  which  is  made  of  life,  health,  and  honesty 
in  the  pursuit  of  money,  is  a  sin  that  cries  to  heaven  for  ven- 
geance, and  God  has  come  forth  from  his  hiding-place  to  avenge 
it.  I  have  been  led  thus  to  say,  that  until  the  physical  condition 
of  the  poor  is  ameliorated,  (and  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to 
describe  in  detail  all  I  have  heard  and  witnessed  respecting  it,) 
there  is  but  too  faint  hope  of  evangelizing  them.  Let  both  go 
together ;  let  each  man  in  his  neighbourhood,  in  his  sphere,  in 
his  place  of  business,  wherever  he  has  influence,  try  to  raise  the 
condition  of  all  around  him,  to  minister  to  the  necessities  of  the 
poor,  so  that  when  he  moves  through  the  world,  that  world  may 
recollect  him,  not  as  a  blank  that  has  done  no  good,  nor  as  a  curse 


THE  WALK  IN  WHITE.  365 

that  has  done  undiluted  mischief,  but  as  a  blessing  to  be  thankful 
for  when  present,  and  to  be  regretted  when  gone. 

It  is  alleged  of  those  few  in  the  midst  of  Sardis,  that  they  had 
not  defiled  their  garments :  "  Thou  hast  a  few  names  even  in 
Sardis  who  have  not  defiled  their  garments."  The  world's  atmo- 
sphere is  here  represented  as  a  defiling  medium,  tainting  what  it 
touches,  and  covering  the  purest  with  its  pernicious  oxides ;  it  is 
the  element  which  a  Christian  has  to  breathe,  and  live,  and  walk 
in,  and  yet  preserve  in  virgin  purity  his  holy  and  spotless  robes. 
The  difficulty  of  his  position  is,  to  breathe  such  air,  and  walk  in 
such  an  element,  and  at  the  same  time  escape  the  taint  and 
pollution  to  which  he  is  everywhere  liable.  This  not  defiling 
their  garments,  then,  is  simply  keeping  a  holy  and  consistent  walk 
in  the  midst  of  the  world ;  in  it,  but  not  of  it ;  as  Daniel  was  in 
the  midst  of  Babylon,  protesting  against  its  sins,  not  partaking  of 
them.  As  our  Lord  and  Master  was  in  the  world,  but  not  of 
the  world,  so  should  we  be ;  having  intercourse  with  its  men, — 
occupying,  if  needs  be,  its  offices,  —  gathering,  if  Providence 
permits  us,  its  legitimate  profits,  —  discharging  the  varied  social 
and  political  duties  that  devolve  upon  us  in  the  Providence  of 
God, — and  yet  maintaining  a  consistent,  spotless  purity,  that  will 
commend  the  Gospel  to  the  ignorant,  and  draw  sinners  to  the 
only  Saviour.  It  is  quite  true  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
absolute  purity  attainable  below.  God  himself  has  said  that 
'  there  is  not  a  just  man  on  earth  that  sinneth  not ;"  another, 
has  said,  "In  many  things  we  ofiend  alway;"  and  another  has 
said,  "If  we  say  we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves."  What, 
therefore,  is  implied  in  keeping  our  garments  pure,  is,  main- 
taining ourselves  blameless  and  harmless,  the  sons  of  God,  as 
lights  in  the  world  in  the  midst  of  a  crooked  generation,  doing 
nothing  that  shall  bring  discredit  on  the  Gospel  we  profess,  but 
adorning  the  doctrine  in  all  things,  so  that  the  world  shall  not  be 
able  to  point  at  us  the  finger,  and  say,  "  These  are  the  men  who 
appear  at  the  Communion-table  all  devotion,  but  who,  in  the> 
wear  and  tear  of  this  world's  traffic,  pursue  all  crooked  and  dis- 
ingenuous ways,  do  all  sorts  of  dishonest  things,  and  are  too 
justly  chargeable  with  practices  which  even  the  irreligious  abhor. 
They  who  are  thus  preserved,  are  those  who  realize  this  blessed 

31* 


3G6  THE  CHURCH  OF  SARDIS. 

promise :  "  I  will  sprinkle  cleaa  water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be 
clean :  from  all  your  filthiness,  and  from  all  your  idols,  will  I 
cleanse  you."  Again ;  the  Apostle  says,  "  Put  on,  therefore,  as 
the  elect  of  God,  holy  and  beloved,  bowels  of  mercies,  kindness, 
humbleness  of  mind,  meekness,  long-suffering."  These  are  the 
folds  of  these  garments ;  these  the  gi'aces  given  them  by  the  ■ 
Spirit  of  God ;  this  the  charge  we  are  called  upon,  by  the  word 
of  Him  that  giveth  them,  to  maintain  pure,  spotless,  inviolate, 
in  the  midst  of  a  defiled  and  defiling  world.  The  promise  is  to 
such,  "  They  shall  walk  with  me  in  white ;" — a  walk  that  begins 
below,  moves  upward  in  light,  and  culminates  in  glory  —  a  walk 
whose  commencement  has  a  date,  whose  close  is  never.  Heaven 
begins  with  that  Genesis  which  our  Lord  explained  to  Nicodemus, 
as  earth  began  with  that  old  Genesis  which  God  unfolded  to 
Moses.  Heaven  commences  here,  or  it  will  never  commence  at 
all.  The  moment  a  man  is  born  again,  that  moment  he  turns 
his  back  upon  the  things  he  pursued  before,  and  he  courts,  and 
cleaves,  and  aspires  to  those  unseen  and  glorious  things  which 
heretofore  were  foolishness  to  him. 

They  who  thus  keep  their  garments  undefiled,  shall  walk  with 
Christ  in  white.  Then  they  are  perfectly  agreed  together  — 
Christ  and  the  believer  are  of  one  mind,  —  "  for  how  can  two 
walk  together  unless  they  be  agreed?"  They  have  the  same 
deep  hatred  of  sin  in  kind  if  not  in  degree,  the  same  ardenl- 
thirst  after  holiness,  the  same  beneficent  and  missionary  spirit 
Having  the  same  mind  that  was  in  Christ  Jesus,  they  walk  with 
him ;  and  when  they  walk  with  him,  they  do  so  in  perfect  confi- 
dence in  the  safety  of  their  walk,  and  in  the  wisdom  of  their 
leader  J  they  stand  still  where  Christ  stands  still;  they  never 
precede  him — that  would  be  presumption ;  they  never  fall  behind 
him  —  this  would  be  distrust ;  they  walk  with  him, — and  this  is 
Christianity.  They  do  so,  too,  in  constant  and  growing  obedience, 
listening  to  his  every  word,  obeying  his  every  precept,  drinking 
in  his  every  promise,  and  cherishing  the  least  hope  he  allows 
them  to  entertain.  Does  Christ  say  to  them,  "Pray?"  They 
do  not  say,  "  Plow  can  Christ  answer  my  prayer,  without  re- 
versing the  very  movements  and  machinery  of  the  universe?" 
This  is  a  metaphysical  question  they  do  not  discuss.     Christ 


THE  WALK  IN  WHITE.  *  '367"    I 

/   V 

says,  "Ask,  and  ye  shall  obtain ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  *  *       . 

unto  you;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find;"  and,  without  looking  at  the 
difficulties  of  it,  or  the  metaphysics  of  it,  they  pray,  and  their 
prayers,  as  their  experience  sweetly  testifies,  are  answered. 
When  believers  prayed  in  the  age  of  miracles,  the  miracle  was 
wrought  before  them;  when  we  pray  now,  the  same  miracle 
may  be  wrought,  but  in  a  loftier  region,  where  our  eyes  cannot  . 
see  it;  the  power  in  action  is  equally  omnipotence,  and  the 
results  are  equally  miraculous.     It  is  just  as  true  now,  that  if  * 

you  ask  you  shall  obtain,  as  it  was  that  if  the  apostle  Paul  asked 
he  should  obtain ;  for  the  promise  that  was  yea  and  amen  in  the 
apostolic  age,  is  the  promise  that  shall  be  yea  and  amen  till  the 
last  ripe  believer  is  gathered  to  his  everlasting  home.     They, 
therefore,  walk  with  Christ  in  growing  obedience   to  him,  in      • 
simple  compliance  with  his  word,  and  finding  their  greatest  safety  ^      ^ 
and  their   greatest   happiness    in    doing  just  as  he  bids   them. 
They  walk  with  Christ,  too,  humbly ;  they  "  do  justly,  love  mercy, 
and  walk  humbly  with  their  Grod."     We  must  be  content  to  be 
ignorant  about  many  things  we  should  like  to  know ;  we  must  be   •      <i^j 
satisfied  not  to  know  the  end  and  the  issue  of  many  things  of        '  >• 
which  we  see  the   beginning.     The  angels  that  are  before  the 
throne,  who  bask  in  the  splendours  of  the  beatific  vision,  and  see 
clearly  all  things  that  are  there,  humbly  veil  their  faces  with  tbei<'*% 
wings,  and  trust  that  all  will  be  holy,  beneficent,  and   happy,, 
though   they  are   unable   to   trace,  in  the  commencement,  the 
middle  and  the  issue.     This  walk  with  Christ,  too,  is  in  happi- 
ness and  perfect  joy ;  they  walk  with  Christ  not  only  in  perfect 
coincidence  with  him,  in  happy  and  growing  obedience  to  him,    - 
and  in  true  humility  beside  him,  but  also  in  happiness  and  in 
joy.     The   Christian's   life  is  a  happy  life.      The  miseries  we 
feel   come  not  from  our   Christianity,  but   from   our  want   of 
it.     When   we    begin   to   feel  unhappy,   it  is   then   we   have 
begun    to    let  go   the   recollection   of  the   truth   as    it   is    in 
Jesus.     Whenever  the  unhappy  fit  comes  upon  you,  open  th6 
page  of  the  New  Testament,  read  the  bright  promises,  remember 
that  this  music  from  these  golden  harps  is  for  you,  and  hear  a      '"JH 
voice  sounding  from  the  midst  of  it :  "  Let  not  your  hearts  be      * 
troubled  J  ye  believe  in  Grod,  believe  also  in  me.   I  will  not  leave    * 


t 


^ 


368  THE  CHURCH  OF  SARDIS. 

you  orphans  j  I  •will  come  again  unto  you,  and  receive  you  unto 
myself.  And  if  ye  ask  anything  in  my  name,  I  will  do  it."  We 
walk  with  Christ  not  as  victims  with  an  avenger,  not  as  slaves 
with  a  tyrant,  not  as  the  vanquished  with  their  conqueror,  but  as 
sons  with  the  father,  brethren  with  an  elder  Brother,  friends  with 
the  Friend  that  sticketh  even  closer  than  a  brother.  And  such 
a  walk,  with  all  its  stumblings,  its  shadows,  its  short-comings, 
must  be,  in  the  main,  a  joyful  and  a  happy  walk.  Do  not  forget 
that  one  of  the  great  ends  of  Christianity  is  to  make  men  happy, 
to  irradiate  the  sick-bed  with  new  beauty,  the  grave  with  new 
lustre,  the  unseen  world  with  new  splendour,  and  to  make  you 
feel  that  nothing  can  separate  you  "  from  the  love  of  God  that  ' 
is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." 

But  this  walk,  this  holy,  happy,  humble  walk,  is  only  the  in- 
troduction to  a  yet  more  glorious  one,  when  things  now  seen  and 
temporal  shall  be  no  more.  It  is  very  beautiful  to  notice,  that 
every  promise  of  a  future  joy  made  to  a  child  of  God,  in  th^ 
Scriptures,  bears  some  relation  to  the  distinguishing  feature  by 
which  that  child  of  God  is  here  characterized.  Are  you,  for  in- 
etance,  among  those  who  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness  ? 
Then  the  promise  that  will  be  so  sweet  to  you  in  its  earnest  upon 
earth,  and  so  rich  to  you  in  its  full  enjoyment,  is,  "  You  shall  be 
filled."  Are  you  among  peace-makers  ?  Then  the  promise  the 
earnest  of  which  you  will  realize  below,  and  the  full  enjoyment 
of  which  you  shall  taste  above,  is,  "  You  shall  be  called" — that  is, 
you  shall  be — "  the  children  of  God."  Are  you  among  the  pure 
in  heart?  The  promise  corresponds  to  the  character — "You 
shall  see  God."  It  is  of  grace  that  we  receive  the  least  mercy, 
and  yet  God  is  pleased  to  add  the  promise  and  the  hope  of  reward 
in  order  to  stimulate  us  in  our  Christian  walk,  to  cheer  us  in  the 
prospect  of  our  final  and  our  everlasting  home.  So  here,  those 
who  keep  their  garments  undefiled,  who  walk  with  beautiful  feet 
the  paths  of  holiness  in  a  rugged  world,  shall,  as  their  reward  in 
heaven,  walk  with  Jesus  in  white. 

This  promise  that  we  shall  walk  in  white  with  him,  implies 
that  we  shall  walk  with  him  in  perfect  purity.    Who  are  these  that 
are  arrayed  in  white  robes  ?   Whence  come  they  ?   They  are  they 
\.  that  have  washed  their  robes^  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood 


'> 


THE  WALK  m  WHITE.  -  -  ow,   » 

of  the  Lamb.  Nothing  that  defiJeth  can  enter  heaven.  Wo  * 
shall  be  like  him,  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is.  There  will  be 
no  stain  on  those  spotless  robes;  there  will  be  no  moth  in  that 
pure  apparel ;  no  worm  in  those  goodly  cedars ;  no  rust  in  that 
virgin  gold ;  no  taint  in  that  atmosphere  of  life,  and  purity,  and 
love ;  no  pollution  in  those  springs  of  living  waters,  which  shall 
be  opened  to  them  that  live  and  reign  with  the  Lamb  for  ever. 

This  expression,  "  walk  in  white,"  denotes,  also,  that  they  shall 
be  amid  perfect  glory ;  as  is  evident  from  such  passages  as  these : 
—  In  the  transfiguration  on  the  mount,  it  is  said,  "  His  face  did  * 
shine  as  the  sun,  and  his  raiment  was  white  as  the  light."  This  ^ 
was  the  picture  of  Christ  in  glory.  Another  evangelist  adds  this 
further  feature,  "so  that  no  fuller  on  earth  could  whiten  it." 
The  angel  at  the  tomb  also  had  a  countenance,  we  read,  like 
lightning,  and  his  raiment  was  white  as  snow.  The  expression, 
therefore,  "  they  shall  walk  with  me  in  white,"  denotes  that  they 
shall  walk  with  Christ  in  glory,  irradiated  with  that  unutterable 
glory  and  beauty.  This  expression  also  denotes  dignity  and  rank. 
The  ancient  priests  and  kings  were  clothed  in  white,  and  the 
Koman  Patricians  wore  white  as  their  distinction.  So  with  us, 
too,  if  we  have  washed  our  robes,  and  made  them  white  in  that 
blood  J  we  too,  if  it  is  our  prayer  and  our  effort  to  keep  our  gar- 
ments undefiled  in  the  world ;  we  too,  who  war  with  sin,  and  rise, 
even  though  we  may  have  fallen,  and  pray  and  wrestle  again;- 
we,  too,  shall  walk  with  Christ  in  white,  and  shall  be  presented 
unto  him  (to  quote  a  parallel  passage)  "  a  glorious  Church,  with- 
out spot  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing,"  in  that  place  where  * 
righteousness  shall  shine  forth  as  the  sun,  "and  they  that  be 
wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament,  and  they 
that  turn  many  unto  righteousness  as  the  stars  for  ever  and 
ever." 

Such  then  is  the  condition  of  this  Church — a  few  in  the  midst 
of  Sardis,  Christians  among  the  unchristian  many;  such,  se--. 
condly,  is  their  character  —  not  defiling  their  garments;  such, 
lastly,  is  their  reward  —  they  shall  walk  with  Christ  upon  earth 
in  the  enjoyment  of  the  earnest,  and  they  shall  walk  with  Christ 
hereafter  in  the  full  enjoyment,  of  the  full  blessing  —  they  shall 
walk  with  him  in  white. 


370  '        THE  CHURCH  OF  SABDIS. 

Then  it  is  added,  "  for  they  are  worthy."  What  does  this  word 
mean  ?  What  sense  must  we  attach  to  it  ?  There  are  two  senses 
in  which  the  word  "  worthy"  is  used,  and  we  are  at  liberty,  nay, 
we  are  commanded,  to  adopt  that  which  appears  to  be  most  plainly 
coincident  with  the  whole  strain  and  tenor  of  God's  word.  The 
word  is  used  in  the  sense  of  merit,  as,  "  he  that  did  things 
worthy  of  stripes," — that  is,  deserving.  "  This  is  a  faithful  say- 
ing, and  worthy  of  all  acceptation," — that  is,  deserving  all 
acceptation.  Again;  " Thou  art  wor<Ay  to  take  the  book."  In 
this  sense  no  human  being  can  be  worthy,  if  there  be  truth  in 
Scripture  or  consistency  in  the  Gospel;  and  in  this  sense,  there- 
fore, the  word  cannot  here  be  construed.  In  its  other  sense  it  is 
said,  "  He  that  loveth  father,  or  mother,  or  sister,  or  brother, 
more  than  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me," — that  is,  "it  indicates  the 
spirit  that  disqualifies  him  for  following  me."  "  Bring  forth 
frtdts  meet  for  repentance :"  here  the  word  translated  meet  is  the 
same  that  is  rendered  worthy,  and  means,  "fitted  to,"  "corre- 
sponding to."  "  Giving  thanks  unto  the  Father  which  hath 
made  us  meet  [or  worthy]  to  be  partakers  of  the  inheritance  of 
the  saints  in  light."  In  this  second  sense,  therefore,  the  word 
denotes  fitness.  In  the  first  sense  it  cannot  be  here  used ;  for, 
"  By  grace  are  ye  saved,  through  faith,  and  that  not  of  your- 
selves; it  is  the  gift  of  God :"  "Not  by  works  of  righteousness 
which  we  have  done,  but  according  to  his  mercy  he  saved  us." 
Our  comfort,  our  happiness,  our  peace  at  this  moment  rests  upon 
the  full,  clear,  distinct  realizing  of  this  truth — that  in  that  which 
entitles  us  to  happiness  there  is  not  one  thread  of  any  robe  of 
our  own,  not  one  atom  of  any  possession  of  ours;  we  are  saved, 
not  by  anything  we  are,  or  by  anything  we  have  done,  or  by 
anything  we  have  suffered,  but  wholly,  solely,  exclusively,  from 
the  first  pulse  of  the  new  life  on  earth  to  its  first  pulse  in  glory, 
by  the  finished  righteousness  and  glorious  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of 
God.  He  that  knew  no  sin  was  made  sin  for  us,  that  we  might 
be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him.  But  in  the  second 
sense  in  which  the  word  is  used,  we  ought  all  of  us,  day  by  day, 
to  be  growing  in  worthiness  of  walking  with  Christ  in  white, — 
th|^  is,  in  that  spirit,  temper,  taste,  perseverance,  desire,  aspira- 


THE  WALK  IN  WHITE.  371 

tion,  prayer,  which  indicate  that  we  have  the  same  mind  that  was 
in  Christ  Jesus. 

Let  me  ask  you,  then,  Are  you  making  progress  in  fitness  for 
heaven  ?  Does  each  succeeding  Sabbath  dawn  with  greater  beauty 
on  your  homes  ?  Are  the  chimes  of  its  bells  daily  more  musical 
to  your  ears  ?  Is  the  service  of  the  sanctuary  more  delightful 
than  it  ever  was  ?  Do  you  find  in  the  Bible  mines  of  gold,  and 
stores  of  honey,  sweeter  than  honey  and  the  honeycomb  ?  Can 
you  say  that  you  love  the  company,  and  study  the  interests  of 
the  people  of  God  ?  Can  you  say,  with  all  your  faults,  your 
short-comings,  your  sins,  your  infirmities,  that  you  have  grown  in 
grace  and  in  fitness  for  heaven  ?  I  can  conceive  no  better  test 
by  which  to  try  your  fitness  for  this  promise  than  your  enjoyment 
of  the  Sabbath.  Is  it  to  you  a  day  that  is  welcome  because  it 
enables  you  to  walk  more  closely  with  Christ :  or  is  it  a  day  that 
you  are  thankful  to  see  pass  away  ?  Do  you  feel  it  to  be  the 
brightest,  and  the  best  day  of  the  seven  ?  For  what  is  the  mil- 
lennium but  a  Sabbath  a  thousand  years  long  ?  It  is  the  rest,  the 
sabhatismos,  that  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God.  That  man 
who  has  no  delight  in  praise,  nor  in  prayer,  nor  in  hearing  God's 
word  explained,  nor  in  studying  God's  truth,  nor  in  such  means 
38  Christ  commands  and  commends,  gives  too  plain  and  palpable 
evidence  that  he  wants  that  which  will  fit  him  for  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  An  unregenerate  man  would  not  be  happy  in  the 
choirs  of  the  blessed.  The  future  state  is  less  a  locality,  perhaps, 
and  more  a  character.  Plunge  a  saint  into  the  depths  of  hell, 
and  he  will  be  secure  and  happy,  as  were  Shadrach,  Meshech, 
and  Abed-nego,  in  the  midst  of  the  burning  fiery  furnace. 
Snatch  a  victim  from  the  flames  of  the  lost,  lift  him,  and  set  him 
beside  the  throne  of  God,  and  the  consuming  and  corroding 
agony  of  his  curse  would  remain  with  all  its  stings  and  terrors 
still.  It  is  not  what  is  without  us  that  makes  heaven  or  hell;  it 
is  what  is  within  us.  The  heart  is  the  spring  of  misery  or  happi- 
ness ;  and  according  to  what  that  heart  is,  "  by  nature  fallen,  or 
by  grace  regenerate,"  does  man  feel  in  happiness  or  misery.  I 
ask  you  then.  Are  you  becoming  meet  for  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  ?  Is  your  religion  making  you  more  happy,  more  victo- 
rious over  the  temptations,  more  patient  in  the  trials,  more  re- 


372  THE  CHURCH  OF  SARDIS. 

signed  in  the  afflictions,  more  hopeful  in  the  difficulties  through 
which  you  have  to  pass  ?  If  it  is  doing  so,  bless  him  who  has 
given  it  to  you ;  pray  that  the  Spirit  of  God  would  impress  his 
sublime  truths  upon  your  hearts  more  deeply,  and  make  his  pro- 
mises the  music  amid  which  you  pass  to  the  future  world,  and  the 
performance  and  fulfilment  of  them  the  hope  of  the  enjoyment 
that  awaits  you  there. 


>|«^UH  '4fy 


LECTURE  XXin. 


TRUE  HONOUR  AND  RENOWN. 


"He  that  overcometh,  the  same  shall  be  clothed  in  trhite  raiment;  and  I 
will  not  blot  out  his  name  out  of  the  book  of  life,  but  I  will  confess  his  name 
before  my  Father,  and  before  his  angels." — Rev.  iii.  5. 

I  DESCRIBED  the  true  state  of  the  Church  at  Sardis  when  I 
addressed  you  on  the  words — "  Thou  hast  a  name  that  thou  livest, 
and  art  dead :"  the  portrait  of  a  formal  Church,  without  spirit 
and  without  life  :  the  semblance  of  the  Church,  the  reality  of  the 
world  —  a  statue,  perfectly  beautiful  in  all  its  proportions,  but 
cold,  without  animation  and  without  heart  or  mind.  I  then  ad- 
dressed you  from  the  exhortation  given  to  her — "  Be  watchful." 
Christ  had  no  pleasure  in  the  ruin  of  that  Church ;  he  would 
rather  rekindle  the  smouldering  flax,  and  restore  the  broken  reed  : 
he  therefore  says  to  her,  "  Be  watchful,  and  strengthen  the  things 
which  remain,  and  are  ready  to  die :  for  I  have  not  found  thy 
works  perfect  before  God.  Remember  therefore  how  thou  hast 
received  and  heard,  and  hold  fast,  and  repent."  I  then  addressed 
you  on  the  fourth  verse — "  Thou  hast  a  few  names  even  in  Sardis 
which  have  not  defiled  their  garments."  I  showed  that  even  in 
the  worst  and  darkest  spiritual  state  into  which  a  Church  can  fall, 
there  are  left  some  bright  and  beautiful  exceptions.  There  was 
an  Abraham  in  the  land  of  Ur ;  there  was  a  Job  in  the  land  of 
Uz ;  a  Lot  in  the  land  of  Sodom ;  and  even  when  Elijah  thought 
himself  alone,  there  were  seven  thousand,  invisible  to  him,  but 
known  to  God,  who  had  not  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal.  Even  in 
the  Church  of  Rome  there  is  a  people  to  whom  are  addressed 
the  words,  "  Come  out  of  her,  my  people,  that  ye  be  not  partakers 
of  her  sins,  and  that  ye  receive  not  of  her  plagues." 

32  (373) 


374  THE  CHURCH  OF  SARDIS. 

Those  melancholy  inscriptions  which  I  read  to  you  from  the 
walls  of  the  inquisition  of  Rome,  show  that  the  saints  of  God  are 
murdered  in  the  midst  of  her,  and  the  inscriptions  that  they  leave 
behind  are  evidences  that  even  in  that  Church,  as  well  as  in 
others,  are  the  people  of  God.  If  a  Church  had  no  saints  in  it, 
it  would  be  perceived  by  all  to  be  "  salt  that  has  lost  its  savour :" 
it  is  therefore  because  there  is  a  remnant  of  living  Christianity 
in  the  popedom,  and  because  there  are  here  and  there  scattered 
in  the  midst  of  it  some  of  the  confessing  and  witnessing  people 
of  God,  that  that  Church  is  so  dangerous,  as  a  proselyting  power 
on  the  one  hand,  and  so  long  spared  from  the  righteous  judg- 
ments of  God,  upon  the  other.  Yet  true  it  is,  that  all  this  is  in 
keeping  with  the  aspects  and  facts  of  nature :  there  is  not  one 
lofty  peak  in  the  Alps  or  the  Appenines,  where  the  avalanche 
sleeps  perpetually,  on  which  there  may  not  be  gathered  some  sweet 
violet  that  the  biting  winds  have  not  nipped,  some  crystal 
streamlet  that  the  frosts  have  not  hardened.  So  in  the  corrupted 
Church  there  are  here  and  there  two  or  three  to  show  that  in  the 
most  unpromising  and  unlikely  circumstances  God  may  have  a 
people.  The  life  of  man  is  so  constituted  that  he  can  live  in 
almost  any  climate.  There  is  a  power  of  adaptation  in  the  animal 
economy,  which  enables  man  to  live  under  the  equator  or  amid 
the  polar  frost  of  Greenland ;  and  there  is  in  spiritual  life  a 
power,  not  of  adaptation,  but  of  persistency  and  endurance  from 
its  communion  with  the  fountain  of  life,  which  enables  it  to  live 
even  where  we  should  suppose — 

"All  life  must  die ;  death  live,  and  nature  breed  perverse 
All  monstrous,  all  abominable  things." 

"  Thou  hast  a  few  names  even  in  Sardis,  which  have  not  defiled 
their  garments ;"  and  to  them  the  promise  is  given,  "  He  that 
overcometh,  the  same  shall  be  clothed  in  white  raiment ;  and 
I  will  not  blot  out  his  name  out  of  the  book  of  life."  It  is  not 
multitude  that  gains  the  victory,  but  truth.  The  triumph  over 
sin,  the  inheritance  of  the  reward,  is  "  not  by  might,  nor  by 
power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  It  is  true  in 
the  history  and  experience  of  Christianity,  that  "  the  race  is  not 
to  the  swift,  nor  the  battle  to  the  strong;"  the  only  conqueror  is 


TRUE  HONOUR  AND  RENOWN.  875 

the  true  Christian.  He  who  overcomes  is  he  who  is  conscious 
of  weakness  in  himself,  but  of  omnipotence  in  God.  Who  is  he 
"  that  overcometh  the  world  ?  He  that  believeth  that  Jesus  is 
the  Son  of  God."  Such  a  conqueror  overcomes,  not  enemies, 
but  enmity ;  not  opponents,  but  sin,  the  essence  of  opposition ; 
and  is  more  than  conqueror  through  him  that  loved  him. 

But  I  have  explained  to  you  already  who  they  are  that  over- 
come :  I  therefore  turn  to  the  promise  — ''  Shall  be  clothed  in 
white  raiment."  "White"  was  the  symbol  of  the  priestly  office, 
according  to  the  laws  and  institutes  of  Levi ;  and  the  promise, 
"  He  shall  be  clothed  in  white,"  is  therefore  equivalent  to  a 
promise  that  he  shall  officiate  in  the  New  Jerusalem  and  in  the 
presence  of  the  Lord  as  a  priest  before  him.  All  true  Christians, 
we  are  told  in  the  Scripture,  are  priests  even  now.  It  is  not  the 
ministers  of  the  Gospel  who  are  priests,  ex  officio,  though  some 
think  so,  and  others  pretend  to  be  so ;  but  all  truly  converted 
men  are  "  a  chosen  generation,  a  holy  nation,  a  royal  priesthood," 
and  are  therefore  qualified  to  sing  this  song,  "Unto  him  that 
loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood,  and  hath 
made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God  and  our  Father,  to  him  be 
glory  and  dominion  for  ever  and  ever."  There  is  not  one  single 
verse  in  the  New  Testament  which  authorizes  the  idea  that  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel  is  officially,  or  in  any  sense,  a  sacrificing 
priest.  It  would  be  just  as  appropriate  that  the  commander  of 
an  army  should  minister  at  the  communion-table  in  the  sanctuary, 
as  that  one  who  calls  himself  a  sacrificing  priest  should  officiate. 
Such  a  person  is  not  in  the  catalogue  of  officers  meant  for  the 
Church  of  God.  All  priests,  strictly  and  literally  such,  passed 
away  with  the  shadows  of  Levi,  while  the  priesthood  of  Aaron, 
with  its  airy  sacrifices,  was  absorbed  in  the  priesthood  of  him 
who  has  an  intransferable  priesthood,  and  oficred  a  final  and 
perfect  sacrifice.  But  if  we  are,  in  one  sense  as  we  are,  priests, 
what  do  we  do  as  priests  ?  We  do  not  offer  up  a  propitiatory 
sacrifice ;  it  is  plain  enough  we  need  no  propitiatory  sacrifice  to 
be  offered  up  now ;  this  Christ  did  once  for  all ;  but  we  offer  up 
spiritual  sacrifices  on  and  by  Christ  the  eternal  altar;  "To  do 
good,  and  to  communicate,  forget  not ;  for  with  such  sacrifices 
God  is  well  pleased."     Again,  praise  is  declared  to  be  "  the  fruit 


376  THE  CHURCH  OF  SARDIS.    ' 

of  the  lips,"  and  "a  sacrifice."  And  again  we  are  told  to  pre- 
sent ourselves  "  living  sacrifices  acceptable  to  God,  which  is  our 
reasonable  service."  Christ's  sacrifice  was  propitiatory;  our 
sacrifices  are  spiritual  and  eucharistic.  None  may  present,  for  it 
would  be  blasphemy  to  attempt  it,  a  sacrifice  the  same  as  his ; 
but  all  are  called  upon  to  present  spiritual  sacrifices  as  acceptable 
to  God.  Herein  lies  the  lofty  dignity,  lent  to  the  least  act  of  a 
Christian.  AVhen  he  gives  a  halfpenny  to  the  plate  for  spread- 
ing the  everlasting  Gospel,  he  does  a  priestly  act — an  act  that  is 
so  welcome  because  it  is  the  altar  that  sanctifies  the  offering ;  the 
gift  is  so  precious  in  the  estimate  of  heaven,  whether  it  be  a 
halfpenny  or  an  hundred  pounds,  not  because  of  its  intrinsic 
value,  but  because  it  is  the  expression  of  the  love  of  one  who 
gives  to  Christ  all  the  merit  that  he  has,  and  who  expects  from 
Christ  freely  the  blessing  he  has  been  taught  to  hope  for.  But 
in  heaven,  and  in  the  future  age  to  which  the  promise  refers,  it 
may  be  asked.  What  work  will  there  be  for  priests  to  do  ?  Man 
will  be  reinstated  in  the  place  he  forfeited  by  sin ;  yea,  in  a  yet 
more  glorious  place.  He  will  then  and  there  be  "  the  .eye  of 
nature,"  to  behold  all  its  beauty;  ''the  ear  of  nature,"  to  hear 
its  harmonies;  "the  heart  of  nature,"  to  feel  love  to  nature's 
God ;  and  finally,  "  the  priest  of  nature,"  to  offer  up  the  tribute 
of  universal  nature  unto  him  that  loved  him,  and  washed  him 
from  his  sins  in  his  own  blood,  and  made  him  a  priest  and  a  king 
unto  God.  Thus,  then,  they  that  overcome  shall  be  "clothed  in 
white  raiment"  and  made  priests  unto  God.  But  white,  as  I  have 
explained  before,  was  also  a  symbol  of  rank;  thus  the  Roman 
patricians  were  clothed  in  white.  The  promise,  therefore,  that 
they  "  shall  be  clothed  in  white,"  is  equivalent  to  a  promise  that 
they  shall  be  raised  to  great  dignity.  How  attractive  is  rank 
here  !  What  will  not  some  men  endure,  what  will  they  not  sa- 
crifice in  order  to  obtain  a  title,  or  to  be  raised  to  a  rank  and 
dignity  they  have  not.  And  what  is  it  when  they  have  got  it  ? 
an  empty  name  that  dies  in  the  utterance ;  a  circumstantial  and 
perishable  dignity  that  fades  in  the  using.  But  if  this  be  so  de- 
sirable, such  as  it  is,  to  men  in  this  world,  how  desirable  should 
be  to  us  that  lofty  dignity,  that  lasting  elevation,  that  pure  and 


TRUE  HONOUR  AND  RENOWN.  f^ 

ennobling  grandeur,  that  is  beyond  the  reach  of  taint,  the  possi- 
bility of  decay,  or  liability  to  change  or  accident ! 

"He  that  overcometh"  then  "shall  be  clothed  in  white  rai- 
ment." Thus  the  royalties  of  David  and  the  robes  of  Aaron, 
the  dignity  of  kings  and  the  sacredness  of  priests,  the  palms  of 
victors  and  the  robes  of  oiFerers,  shall  be  the  inheritance  of  those 
who  overcome  sin,  and  Satan,  and  the  world,  and  are  received 
into  that  rest  that  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God.  Blessed  and 
beautiful  hope  !  May  it  encourage  us  to  overcome  !  May  we 
know  that  whilst  we  are  redeemed  by  grace,  and  by  grace  alone, 
there  are  rewards  promised  that  vary,  probably,  in  degree  accord- 
ing to  the  progress  that  we  make  in  conformity  to  Christ,  and 
superiority  to  the  world. 

The  next  part  of  the  promise  is,  "  I  will  not  blot  out  his  name 
out  of  tlie  book  of  life."  There  are  various  allusions  to  this  book 
scattered  throughout  the  Bible ;  let  me  mention  two  or  three  of 
them.  One  is  contained  in  Daniel  xii.  "  And  at  that  time  shall 
Michael  stand  up,  the  great  prince  which  standeth  for  the  chil- 
dren of  thy  people  :  and  there  shall  be  a  time  of  trouble,  such  as 
never  was  since  there  was  a  nation  even  to  that  same  time :  and 
at  that  time  thy  people  shall  be  delivered,  every  one  that  shall 
be  found  written  in  the  hook."  You  find  an  allusion  to  the  very 
same  book  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  where  the  Apostle  tells 
us,  "  Ye  are  come  unto  Mount  Sion,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and 
to  an  innumerable  company  of  angels,  and  to  the  general  assem- 
bly of  the  Church  of  the  first-born  whose  names  are  written  in 
heaven ;"  the  allusion  being  plainly  to  the  book  of  life.  You 
find  another  allusion  to  it  in  Revelation  xx.  "And  I  saw  the 
dead,  small  and  great,  stand  before  God ;  and  the  books  were 
opened  :  and  another  book  was  opened,  which  is  the  book  of  life." 
We  find  it  also  in  chap.  xxii.  19 :  "  And  if  any  man  shall  take 
away  from  the  words  of  the  book  of  this  prophecy,  God  shall 
take  away  his  part  out  of  the  hooh  of  life."  It  may  not  be  —  no 
doubt  it  is  not  —  a  literal  book  in  which  are  inscribed  the  names 
of  all  the  saints  of  the  Most  High ;  but  it  conveys  the  literal 
fact  that  the  names  of  all  that  shall  be  saved  from  the  commence- 
ment of  the  world  to  its  close  are  enshrined  in  that  memory  in 
which  there  can  be  no  forgetfulness,  and  entered  upon  those  im- 

32* 


378  THE  CHURCH  OF  SARDIS. 

mutable  rolls  from  which  they  shall  never  perish.  Perhaps,  how- 
ever, to  say  that  their  names  are  "  written  in  the  book  of  life" 
is  just  equivalent  to  saying,  "  the  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are 
his ;"  or,  '*  chosen  in  Christ  before  the  foundation  of  the  world," 
not  "because  ye  are  holy,"  but  "that  ye  may  be  holy." 

It  may  be  asked,  Have  we  any  means  of  reading  that  book, 
and  ascertaining  if  our  names  are  written  there  ?  Many  have 
expressed  a  wish  to  do  so  if  they  could;  but  none  ever  saw  it; 
no  ear  ever  heard  its  contents ;  but  the  marks  and  characteristica 
of  the  saints  of  God,  as  these  are  spread  over  the  sacred  page, 
are  just  shadows  of  their  names  as  these  lie  in  the  light  of  the 
countenance  of  the  Lamb :  they  are  just  outlines,  not  yet  filled 
up,  of  the  saints  whose  names  are  registered  in  the  Lamb's  book 
of  life.  Character  enunciated  on  earth  is  the  reverberation  of 
our  name  as  it  is  sounded  in  heaven,  and  entered  in  the*records 
of  the  skies.  What  are  the  successive  verses  of  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount,  but  the  echoes  of  the  names  of  them  who  are  written 
in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life  ?  In  ascertaining  if  our  names  are 
written  there,  it  is  our  duty  not  to  pry  into  God's  hidden  book 
which  no  man  can  unseal,  but  to  study  God's  open  and  revealed 
book,  which  every  man  that  will,  may  clearly  understand.  Our 
study  is  not  to  be  in  the  books  of  the  upper  sanctuary,  but  in  the 
books  of  the  lower  sanctuary.  Ours  must  be  the  habit  not  of 
striving  to  know  what  God  has  written  of  us  in  heaven,  but  of 
trying  to  feel  and  compare  what  God  has  made  within  and  of  us 
upon  earth.  We  can  never  reach  the  tree  of  knowledge  to  pluck 
its  leaves;  but  we  may  gather,  even  in  this  world,  of  the  fruits 
of  the  tree  of  life.  Such  passages  as  these,  for  instance,  contain 
the  names  of  them  that  are  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life : 
"He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  of  God" — it  matters  not  what 
his  rank,  his  name,  his  degree,  his  country,  sex,  or  kindred, 
"hath  eternal  life."  Again,  "This  is  life  eternal,  to  know  thee 
the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  thou  hast  sent."  And 
again,  "  The  life  that  we  live,  we  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of 
God,  who  loved  us,  and  gave  himself  for  us."  He  that  trusts  in 
Jesus  as  his  sacrifice  —  he  who  is  clothed  with  the  righteousness 
of  Jesus — he  whose  nature  is  assimilated  to  that  of  Jesus  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  may  be  as  sure  that  his  name  is  in  the  Lamb's 


TRUE  HONOUR  AND  RENOWN.  379 

book  of  life,  as  if  God  were  to  take  a  leaf  out  of  it  and  let  it 
drop  from  the  skies,  or  give  it  you  as  your  treasure  on  which  you 
could  peruse  your  name. 

But  the  promise  is  also  added,  "  I  will  not  blot  out  his  name 
out  of  the  book  of  life."  Many  very  silly  explanations  have  been 
given  of  this  passage,  and  many  foolish  questions  have  been  raised 
about  it,  as  to  whether  it  is  possible  for  a  Christian  to  fall  finally  ? 
or,  whether  God  may  alter  his  decrees  or  not  ?  Upon  such  ques- 
tions the  words  convey  no  meaning,  the  one  way  or  the  other.  I 
believe,  that  once  saved,  you  are  saved  for  ever.  I  believe,  that 
he  who  is  once  regenerated  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  never  again  can 
fall  back  into  his  former  condition.  I  believe  that  his  faith  may 
falter,  his  heart  may  faint ;  nay,  he  may  fall  into  sins  against  his 
better  feelings,  out  of  which  he  will  emerge ;  but  if  he  is  indeed 
united  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  by  living  faith,  he  himself  tells 
us  nothing  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  him :  but,  says  he, 
"  I  give  unto  them  eternal  life,  and  none  shall  be  able  to  pluck 
them  out  of  my  hand." 

Then,  what  is  meant  by  the  expression,  "  I  will  not  blot  out 
his  name  ?"  It  is  just  that  negative  which  conveys  the  strongest 
possible  affirmation  :  it  is  equivalent  to,  "  I  will  watch  over  the 
glorious  record  ;  I  will  take  care  it  shall  never  be  blotted  out :  let 
your  name  perish  where  it  may,  it  shall  live  there ;  let  your  in- 
terests be  betrayed  where  they  may,  they  shall  not  be  betrayed 
there.  So  far  from  blotting  out  your  name,  I  will  write  it  there, 
I  will  retain  it  there,  and  nothing  shall  be  able  even  to  oversha- 
dow, still  less  to  blot  out  or  to  expunge  it."  It  is  just  like  that 
promise,  "  I  will  never  leave  thee  nor  forsake  thee :"  that  does 
not  mean  that  Christ  may  ever  leave  or  forsake  us ;  but  it  is  the 
strongest  affirmation  that  he  will  never  leave  us,  but  will  ever 
take  care  of  and  protect  us.  This  teaches  us  that  the  stars  may 
fall  from  the  skies,  the  flowers  fade  from  the  earth,  the  rivers 
cease  to  flow,  the  sea  to  heave,  all  human  records  may  be  oblite- 
rated, all  names  graven  on  monumental  brasses  may  be  destroyed 
— names  that  are  cut  into  the  stones  of  proud  mausolea  may  be 
expunged,  names  which  have  made  the  hearts  of  mankind  to 
tremble,  and  have  smitten  with  fear  the  nations  of  the  world, 
the  names  of  Caesar,  of  Napoleon,  or  of  Alexander,  may  perish 


380  THE  CHURCH  OF  SAUDIS. 

from  the  earth  and  leave  not  a  rack  or  an  echo  behind  them ; 
but  the  name  of  the  meanest  saint  who  is  united  to  his  Lord  by 
living  faith,  shall  be  radiant  in  that  book,  and  become  brighter 
by  the  lapse  of  years,  and  dearer  to  Christ  by  the  trials  through 
which  he  has  passed  in  overcoming  the  world  and  the  things  of 
the  world.  Your  names  then,  people  of  God,  shall  remain  for 
ever;  your  interests  are  where  thieves  cannot  steal  nor  rob- 
bers break  through.  Years  that  wear  out  other  names,  and  time 
that  overshadows  all  things  below,  shall  reveal  in  brighter  lustre, 
and  in  greater  glory  the  names  of  them  who  have  overcome  and 
are  the  saints  and  the  people  of  God.  Blessed  promise  ! — pro- 
mise which  is  "  yea,  and  amen"  in  Christ  Jesus.  And  if  this  be 
so,  it  is  a  very  light  thing  where  your  name  may  be  expunged  on 
earth.  It  may  be  blotted  out  from  the  books  of  the  world ;  but 
what  matters  it  ?  It  may  be  expunged  from  the  rolls  of  corrupt 
and  worldly  churches ;  what  matters  it  ?  "  If  ye  be  reproached 
for  the  name  of  Christ,  happy  are  ye."  It  may  be  covered  with 
a  thousand  blots  j  it  may  be  written  over  with  a  thousand  calum- 
nies—  it  may,  like  Luther's,  be  denounced  as  the  name  of  a 
heretic :  but  when  the  fumes  of  passion  shall  have  all  passed 
away,  and  the  records  of  all  lands  shall  be  laid  bare  before  God, 
it  will  be  found  that  the  name  that  has  perished  is  that  of  the 
proud  persecutor,  and  that  the  name  which  is  in  the  Lamb's  book 
of  life  is  the  name  of  the  persecuted  one. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  Why  will  not  Christ  blot  out  a  Christian's 
name  out  of  the  book  of  life  ?  I  answer,  not  because  of  our 
merits.  These,  God  knows,  are  "few  and  far  between."  It  is 
not  our  desert  that  wrote  it  there ;  it  is  not  our  desert  that  retains 
it  there  :  and  oh  !  blessed  be  his  name,  it  is  not  our  want  of  desert 
and  our  unfaithfulness  to  him,  which  we  confess  and  mourn  over 
and  ask  forgiveness  for,  that  shall  be  able  to  blot  it  out  there. 
What  then  was  it  that  placed  it  there  ?  and  why  is  it  that  he  will 
not  blot  it  out  ?  I  answer,  not  our  love  to  Christ,  but  Christ's 
love  to  us.  Were  the  permanence  of  our  name  in  the  Lamb's 
book  of  life  contingent  upon  our  love  to  Christ,  it  would  have 
been  blotted  out  long  ere  now  ]  but  it  is  retained  there  in  spite 
of  our  sins !  it  is  retained  there  by  the  same  love  that  wrote  it 
there— rby  the  sovereign  love  of  him  who  loved  us  in  our  ruin  and 


TRUE  HONOUR  AND  RENOWN.  381 

washed  us  from  our  sing  in  his  own  blood.  If  once  written  there 
it  is  indelible ;  "  I  will  not  blot  out  his  name  out  of  the  book  of 
life." 

Surely  the  discovery  of  this  truth  should  be  our  greatest  com- 
fort !  All  thin2;s  around  us  are  plainly  convulsed.  Names  ren- 
dered venerable  by  the  lapse  of  years  are  passing  away  from  the 
lips  of  mankind ;  things  ancient  and  revered  are  being  placed  in 
the  crucible  and  recast ;  institutions  which  were  thought  estab- 
lished most  firmly  are  being  shattered  as  by  the  throes  and  ex- 
plosions of  successive  earthquakes  —  all  things  indicate  the 
approach  of  a  crisis  when  everything  will  be  made  new.  Life 
has  come  to  have  a  greater  uncertainty  and  precariousness  than 
ever,  because  the  seventh  vial  is  poured  into  the  air  and  has 
tainted  it  with  its  terrible  miasma ;  the  springs  of  earthly  comfort 
are  being  dried  up — the  sources  of  our  earthly  joys  are  all  de- 
parting :  how  important  it  is  that  we  should  cease  to  look  to  the 
broken  cisterns  that  perish  in  the  using,  and  that  we  should  draw 
strength  and  comfort  from  the  fountain  of  living  waters,  from  the 
blessed  fact  that  our  names  are  written  where  they  cannot  be 
blotted  out,  and  watched  over  by  the  Shepherd  of  Israel,  who 
neither  slumbers  nor  sleeps  !  "  In  this  rejoice  not,  that  the  devils 
are  subject  to  you ;  but  rather  rejoice  that  your  names  are 
written  in  heaven." 

But  our  Lord  adds  more :  not  only  does  he  say,  "  I  will  not 
blot  it  out,"  but  he  says,  "  I  will  confess  it  before  my  Father  and 
before  his  angels."  We  confess  his  name  upon  earth  as  our 
Saviour  J  he  will  confess  our  name  in  the  skies  as  his  people. 
And  surely,  if  one  sound  can  be  heard  more  musical  than  another, 
then,  it  will  be  that  of  our  names  pronounced  by  those  lips  which 
said  once  upon  earth — "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  are  weary  and 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  Have  you  ever  noticed 
in  this  world  that  one  man  will  so  pronounce  to  you  the  very 
humblest  name,  that  it  will  sound  as  if  it  were  the  exponent  of 
the  loftiest  aristocracy,  and  another  man  will  so  pronounce  the 
loftiest  name  that  it  will  sound  positively  mean  ?  How  grand  will 
our  names  sound  when  the  lips  of  Jesus  shall  announce  them  ! 
What  a  thrill  of  ecstasy  will  vibrate  in  every  heart,  when  the 
name  t;Jiat  some  caricatured,  others  misrepresented,  more  maligned. 


882  THE  CHURCH  OF  SARDIS. 

shall  be  declared  by  him  who  shall  add,  as  the  sequel  to  the 
utterance  of  it,  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the 
kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world." 
When  that  day  comes,  when  these  names  shall  be  uttered  and 
confessed  by  Jesus,  what  disappointments  will  there  be  !  Names 
canonized  by  popes  and  worshipped  by  crowds  shall  not  be  heard ; 
names  that  floated  down  the  currents  of  the  world,  and  sounded 
in  endless  echoes  along  the  corridors  of  time,  as  the  noble,  the 
beautiful,  the  brave,  shall  not  be  heard.  Names  that  grew  into 
household  words,  as  those  of  the  world's  benefactors,  shall  not  be 
mentioned.  Names  that  we  expected  would  be  almost  the  key- 
notes of  the  songs  of  heaven  shall  be  passed  by.  On  the  other 
hand,  names  new  to  us,  that  we  never  read  in  the  newspaper,  nor 
heard  of  in  the  lists  of  this  world — whose  bearers  have  emerged 
from  lanes  and  alleys,  and  miserable  and  destitute  places  which 
breathed  the  plague  —  names  too,  that  like  violets  by  the  road- 
side, which  are  only  to  be  seen  when  the  winds  and  the  rains 
have  beaten  down  the  tall  rank  grass  that  grew  over  and  con- 
cealed them  —  names  that  were  sneered  at  and  ridiculed  by  the 
leaders  of  the  world,  and  the  exemplars  of  Christianity,  shall  be 
heard  at  that  day,  the  most  musical  and  glorious  of  all,  though 
not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble,  not  many  great  shall  be  among 
the  inheritors  of  the  kingdom  of  God  and  of  his  Christ. 

My  dear  friends,  let  me  ask.  Are  your  names  written  in  the 
Lamb's  book  of  life  ?  It  is  easy  to  answer  that  question.  Is 
your  character  inscribed  in  the  Bible,  and  inscribed  with  eulogy? 
Will  your  names  be  confessed  by  Christ  ?  Do  you  confess  Christ 
now  ?  it  is  often  a  difficult  task  to  do  so ;  but  what  duty  is  not 
encased  in  suffering  ?  If  you  expect  to  go  through  the  world 
without  difficulties  or  obstructions,  you  forget  where  you  arc. 
This  is  the  Church  militant;  we  are  in  the  world,  but  not  of  it; 
we  are  soldiers  at  war,  and  shall  be  victors  that  will  overcome ; 
and  if  we  confess  Christ  now,  he  also  will  confess  us  before  his 
Father  which  is  in  heaven. 

In  concluding  my  lecture  upon  this  Church,  —  the  Church  of 
Sardis,  —  let  me  observe,  how  poor  and  insignificant  will  all  the 
rank,  and  pomp,  and  splendour  of  this  world  appear  to  him  who 
is  an  inheritor  of  the  glorious  reward  that  awaits  the  people  of 


TRUE  HONOUR  AND  RENOWN.  388 

God !  How  pale  will  seem  to  jou  the  lawn,  the  purple,  and  the 
ermine,  if  you  are  a  candidate  for  those  white  robes  which  the 
Son  of  God  will  give  to  all  them  that  love  him ;  "  Set  your 
aflFections  on  things  that  are  above,"  and  things  that  are  below 
will  grow  paler  and  dimmer,  and  dwindle  down  into  their  intrinsic 
insignificance.  That  man  whose  heart  is  filled  with  heaven,  looks 
down  upon  -earth,  not  indeed  with  contempt,  but  with  cold  indif- 
ference. He  feels  that  he  is  a  candidate  for  a  nobler  prize,  that 
he  is  a  traveller  to  a  more  precious  land ;  and  all  of  the  world 
that  he  wants  is  to  pluck  a  flower  here  and  there  as  he  passes ; 
and  to  feel,  yet  more,  that  the  sooner  he  is  at  his  home,  his 
journey  is  the  sooner  done  and  his  struggle  the  sooner  finished. 
The  only  way  to  make  you  love  this  world  less  is  the  true  way  of 
trying  to  make  you  love  the  next  world  more.  Men  will  not 
cease  to  love  the  world  because  the  minister  preaches  against  it. 
I  should  never  make  the  grasp  of  avarice  relax,  or  the  heart  of 
the  miser  melt,  by  preaching  against  the  love  of  money ;  but  the 
way  to  do  it  is,  to  bring  the  higher  affection  by  its  contact  to  sup- 
plant the  lower.  The  way  to  dissolve  the  earthly  preference  is  to 
bring  to  bear  the  heavenly  preference.  Man's  heart  cannot  be 
empty :  one  must  pursue  some  object  ardently,  and  all  but  ex- 
clusively ;  and  the  only  way  to  dislodge  a  mean  or  corrupt  passion, 
and  to  put  it  beneath  your  feet,  is  to  show  you  the  glory  of  the 
nobler  and  the  purer  object  —  the  heavenly  will  put  out  the 
earthly,  as  the  sunbeams  falling  on  the  brightest  fire  soon  ex- 
tinguish it. 

In  the  next  place,  let  me  observe,  how  poor  is  all  earthly  fame 
and  renown,  compared  with  the  renown  of  having  our  names  con- 
fessed in  heaven  !  We  find  that  men  will  encounter  the  greatest 
dangers,  undergo  the  greatest  hardships,  perform  the  most  toil- 
some labours,  make  the  greatest  sacrifices,  in  order  to  obtain  what 
they  call  a  great  name.  And  after  all  what  is  the  use  of  it  ?  It 
is  just  like  collecting  loaves  and  laying  them  on  their  tombstones, 
when  they  cannot  eat  them.  If  a  reputation  of  a  posthumous 
kind  be  desirable,  it  is  that  reputation  which  makes  the  world 
mourn  that  it  has  lost  a  benefactor,  and  the  Church  grieve  it  has 
parted  with  an  ornament.     Any  reputation  besides  is  vain  and 


384  THE  CHURCH  OP  SARDIS.  " 

paltry,  and  unworthy  of  the  ambition  of  a  rational  man,  still  less 
of  a  Christian. 

And  lastly,  my  dear  friends,  let  us  know  that  we  shall  be  thus 
honored  and  thus  clothed,  not  because  our  names  are  in  the 
Lamb's  book  of  life,  but  because  Christ  loves  us,  and  we  love  him 
as  a  response  to  that  love.  Some  men  have  a  sort  of  stereotyped 
Christianity;  they  think  in  this  way: — "I  am  chosen  to  eternal 
life;  I  am  predestinated;  I  am  sure  that  my  name  is  in  the 
Lamb's  book  of  life."  Where  they  obtained  the  knowledge  does 
not  trouble  them ;  they  profess  to  have  this  knowledge,  and  then 
they  say,  "  I  need  not  mind  much  how  I  live ;  I  need  not  care 
much  how  I  act — all  is  safe."  Would  it  be  auspicious  reasoning 
if  a  wife  were  to  say, — "  I  know  that  my  husband  has  taken  me 
for  better  and  worse,  and  that  he  must  provide  for  me,  because 
the  law  of  the  land  says  so :  our  tie  is  indissoluble ;  I  have  the 
wedding-ring  on  my  finger,  I  may  therefore  act  as  I  please  without 
consulting  his  wishes  or  his  happiness."  The  husband  would 
have  no  great  opinion  of  such  a  wife.  She  should  believe  that 
her  husband  loved  her,  and  therefore  she  was  safe,  and  for  this 
reason  alone  ;  and  we  are  to  believe  that  our  state  for  ever — our 
names  not  being  erased  from  the  book  of  life,  is  not  because  they 
are  stereotyped,  fixed  there,  and  not  to  be  broken, — but  because 
he  that  loved  us  from  the  first,  loves  us  to  the  end,  and  none  shall 
be  able  to  pluck  us  out  of  his  hand. 

The  following  is  the  most  recent  description  of  Sardis  : — 
Sardis,  the  metropolis  of  the  region  of  Lydia,  in  Asia  Minor, 
is  situated  near  mount  Tmolus,  between  thirty  and  forty  miles 
east  from  Smyrna.  It  was  celebrated  for  great  opulence  and  for 
the  voluptuous  and  debauched  manners  of  its  inhabitants.  Con- 
siderable ruins  attest  the  ancient  splendour  of  this  once  celebrated 
capital  of  Croesus  and  the  Lydian  Kings.  It  is  now  reduced  to 
a  wretched  village  called  Sart,  consisting  of  a  few  mud  huts,  in- 
habite(f  by  Turkish  herdsmen.  A  great  portion  of  the  ground 
once  occupied  by  this  imperial  city,  is  now  a  smooth  grassy  plain, 
browsed  over  by  the  sheep  of  the  peasants  or  trodden  by  the 
camels  of  the  caravan,  and  only  a  few  disjointed  pillars  and  the 
crumbling  rock  of  the  Acropolis  remain  to  point  out  the  site  of 
its  glory.     The  ruins  are  more  entirely  gone  to  decay  than  in 


TRUE  HONOUR  AND  RENOWN.  385 

most  of  the  ancient  cities  in  those  parts.  No  Christians  reside 
on  the  spot.  Two  Greek  servants  of  a  Turkish  miller  were  the 
only  representatives  of  the  Church  of  Sardis  in  1826.  Its  pre- 
sent state  affords  a  striking  illustration  of  the  accomplishment  of 
the  prophetic  denunciation  against  the  Church  in  that  city — "  a 
name  to  live  while  dead." 


LECTURE  XXrV. 

THE  KEY  OF  DAVID   AND   THE  OPEN  DOOR. 


"And  to  the  angel  of  the  Church  in  Philadelphia  write;  These  things  saith 
he  that  is  holy,  he  that  is  true,  he  that  hath  the  key  of  David,  he  that  openeth, 
and  no  man  shutteth ;  and  shutteth,  and  no  man  openeth ;  I  know  thy  works : 
behold,  I  have  set  before  thee  an  open  door,  and  no  man  can  shut  it :  for  thou 
hast  a  little  strength,  and  hast  kept  my  word,  and  hast  not  denied  my  name." 
—Rev.  iii.  7,  8. 

The  Lord  Jesus  is  plainly  the  sublime  personage  who  here  in- 
troduces himself  as  the  holy,  the  true,  the  possessor  of  the  key 
of  David.  Isaiah  beheld  his  glory  while  he  worshipped,  and  said, 
"  Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord  ^'d  of  hosts."  The  "  Holy  One 
of  Israel"  is  not  only  his  name,  but  it  is  the  sublime  prerogative 
which  he  claims  for  himself.  "  Thou  wilt  not  suffer  thine  *  Holy 
One'  to  see  corruption,"  is  the  epithet  bestowed  by  the  Father 
upon  the  Son.  Christ  was  holy  as  God,  holy  as  man.  The  highest 
holiness  that  man  can  reach  is  a  borrowed  holiness ;  the  holiness 
of  Christ  was  aboriginal,  underived,  and  full  of  glory.  He  de- 
scribes himself  here  as  "the  True  One."  The  "True"  is  also  a 
frequent  epithet  of  Christ  in  Scripture  :  —  "  That  we  may  know 
him  that  is  true,  and  we  are  in  him  that  is  true,  even  in  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ;"  and  he  says  of  himself,  "  I  am  the  way,  the  truth, 
and  the  life."  Christ  is  the  truth  of  all  literature,  of  all  science, 
and  philosophy.  Every  prophecy  finds  in  him  its  performance  as 
the  truth.  Every  promise  provokes  in  him  its  echo;  for  he  is  its 
truth.  All  the  precepts  and  doctrines  of  Christianity  have  in  him 
their  roots,  coherence  and  unity.  He  is  the  key  that  unlocks  all 
God's  dispensations  in  the  history  of  the  past  —  all  the  mysteries 
inscrutable  to  man  that  envelope  ua  in  the  present, — from  whom 

(386) 


THE  KEY  OF  DAVID  AND  THE  OPEN  DOOR.     387 

too  the  future  shall  have  all  its  glory  and  light.  He  is  "  the  Holy 
One,  the  True  One,  and  hath  the  key  of  David,  and  openeth,  and 
no  man  shutteth." 

The  expression  here  used  is  plainly  an  allusion  to  the  language 
of  Isaiah, — or  rather  of  God,  speaking  hy  the  mouth  of  Isaiah, — 
when  he  says  of  Eliakim,  "  I  will  clothe  him  with  thy  robe,  and 
strengthen  him  with  thy  girdle,  and  I  will  commit  thy  govern- 
ment into  his  hand :  and  he  shall  be  a  father  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Jerusalem,  and  to  the  house  of  Judah.  And  the  key  of  the 
house  of  David  will  I  lay  upon  his  shoulder;  so  he  shall  open, 
and  none  shall  shut;  and  he  shall  shut,  and  none  shall  open. 
And  I  will  fasten  him  as  a  nail  in  a  sure  place ;  and  he  shall  be 
for  a  glorious  throne  to  his  father's  house."  This  is  evidently  a 
prediction  of  Christ  as  having  "  the  key  of  David." 

The  door  that  is  here  spoken  of  is  a  figure  employed  in  Scrip- 
ture in  a  variety  of  senses.  For  instance,  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,  we  hear  the  apostle  describing  the  opportunity  of 
preaching  the  Gospel  thus,  "A  great  door  and  efiectual  is  opened 
to  me."  Again,  in  2  Cor.  xi.  12,  he  says,  "Furthermore,  when 
I  came  to  Troas,  to  preach  Christ's  Gospel,  and  a  door  was  opened 
unto  me  of  the  Lord."  Whatever  then  be  the  meaning  of  that 
door — and  it  may  have  various  meanings — Christ  is  the  key  that 
opens  it.  Is  there  wanted  a  door  ?  or  rather,  is  there  now  no 
door  that  is  not  shut  to  the  spread  of  the  everlasting  Gospel  in 
heathen  lands  ?  Each  door  Christ  points  out  to  the  ministers  of 
the  cross,  and  opens  it  by  that  mysterious  key  that  hangs  at  his 
girdle ;  so  that  thereby  the  Gospel  shall  have  free  course,  and  be 
glorified ;  and  when  he  discloses  and  opens  such  a  door,  "  no  man 
can  shut  it."  Who  was  it  that  opened  a  door  in  the  isles  of  the 
Pacific,  till  those  isles  brightened  into  gems  reflecting  the  glory 
of  the  Lord  upon  the  bosom  of  the  deep  ?  He  that  hath  the  key 
of  David.  Who  opened  a  door  unexpectedly  in  the  walls  of 
China,  leading  inward  to  the  very  heart  of  that  empire,  and  fur- 
nishing access  there  to  the  preachers  of  the  Gospel  ?  Who  has 
opened  a  door  in  Rome  itself  for  the  circulation  of  the  word  of 
God  and  the  preaching  of  the  glorious  Gospel  ?  Not  chance ;  not 
the  Autocrat  by  his  armies ;  not  the  mob  in  the  ayopa  by  its 
voice ;  but  He  who  rules  amid  the  nations,  and  reigns  in  provi- 


388  THE  CHURCH  OP  PHILADELPHIA.        ' 

dence,  and  "  worketh  hitherto,"  — "  He  that  hath  the  key  of 
David,  and  opencth,  and  no  man  shutteth ,  and  shuttcth,  and  no 
man  openeth." 

But  Christ  does  not  merely  open  a  door  among  nations  for  the 
spread  of  the  Gospel :  he  does  more ;  and  •without  doing  more, 
the  opening  of  a  door  would  be  ineflfectual.  He  opens  the  door 
in  the  human  heart  for  the  entrance  of  the  Gospel.  We  have  a 
beautiful  allusion  to  this  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  where  it  is 
said,  "  The  Lord  opened  the  heart  of  Lydia."  In  vain  is  the 
Gospel  preached  with  the  most  persuasive  eloquence ;  in  vain  is 
it  proclaimed  amid  circumstances  propitious  to  its  spread,  and 
presenting  encouragement  to  its  friends ;  in  vain  does  it  gain  a 
momentary  ascendency  over  man's  mind ; — unless  the  Lord  shall 
scatter  the  prejudices  that  cloud  the  mind,  and  eradicate  the  pas- 
sions that  encrust  the  heart,  and  make  a  door  into  its  inmost  re- 
cesses, its  sound  shall  prove  only  as  the  tinkling  cymbal  and  the 
sounding  brass,  and  its  effects  momentary  as  the  morning  cloud 
and  the  early  dew. 

Christ  opens  a  door  to  us  for  the  descent  of  the  forgiveness  of 
sin.  Through  him  alone  can  it  reach  us.  Here  perhaps  is  the 
opportunity  for  the  explanation  of  a  popular  misapprehension. 
Christ's  death  was  not  designed,  nor  is  it  now  meant,  to  make 
God  have  mercy  upon  those  on  whom  he  would  otherwise  have  let 
forth  his  wrath ;  but  Christ's  death  was  intended  to  open  a  door 
for  the  egress  of  that  love  which  viewed  us  from  everlasting  ages, 
and  having  loved  us  from  the  first,  loves  us  even  to  the  last.  In 
other  words,  the  death  of  Christ  was  not  the  Genesis  of  a  love  in 
God  that  was  not  previously  there,  but  it  was  the  opening  a  door 
for  the  egress  of  a  love  that  was  eternally  there.  It  is  not  the 
proposition  of  the  Bible,  that  Christ  died  that  God  might  love 
us ;  but  that  God  loved  us,  and  therefore  Christ  died  for  us : 
hence  one  of  the  most  beautiful  lights  in  which  you  can  look  at 
that  death  is,  as  a  provision  for  the  egress  of  the  love  of  God  in 
full  consistency  with  the  demands  of  his  justice,  the  pledges  of 
his  truth,  and  the  exactions  of  his  holiness :  so  that  in  that  door, 
God's  justice  is  the  threshold,  God's  mercy  and  love  are  the  lin- 
tels and  the  door-posts ;  and  those  very  attributes,  which,  with- 
out an  atonement,  would  naturally  have  obstructed  and  resisted, 


THE  KEY  OF  DAVID  AND  THE  OPEN  DOOR.     389 

to  speak  humanly,  the  egress  of  God's  love  towards  sinners,  have 
now  become,  in  consequence  of  that  atonement,  the  wide  door, 
the  open  channel  through  which  God's  love  may  flow  in  full  tide, 
and  not  cease  to  flow  until  the  earth  is  covered  with  its  expression 
as  the  waters  cover  the  channels  of  the  mighty  deep. 

Another  allusion  to  "  the  door"  in  Scripture,  is  found  in  the 
expression,  a  "  door  of  hope."  Such  a  door  is  opened  to  us  in 
the  Gospel.  Christianity  is  not  only  food  for  faith,  but  a  basis 
for  hope.  Take  away  the  Gospel,  and  man  would  be,  what  the 
apostle  proclaims  him  to  be  by  nature,  "without  God  and  without 
hope  in  the  world  ;"  i.  e.  he  might  look  for  prosperity  or  progress 
upon  earth,  but  he  could  look  for  no  unspeakable  glory,  no  happy 
and  blessed  home,  when  time  and  the  world  shall  be  no  more. 

The  metaphor  "  door"  is  also  used  in  Scripture  to  denote  an 
escape  from  trials.  We  read  in  Scripture  of  "  a  door  of  deliver- 
ance." Christ  has  the  key  of  that  door.  When,  for  instance, 
the  flood  poured  forth  upon  the  world  of  old,  God  opened  the 
door  of  the  ark  for  Noah  to  enter  in,  "and" — it  is  a  beautiful 
idea — "  the  Lord  then  shut  him  in  :"  and  when  he  opened  and  shut, 
none  could  reverse  it.  When  the  Israelites  groaned  under  the 
oppression  of  Pharaoh,  in  the  land  of  Rahab  of  old,  God  opened  to 
them  a  door  of  deliverance.  When  Abraham  was  on  Mount  Moriah, 
prepared  to  sacrifice  his  first-born  at  the  bidding  of  God, 
"  He  that  hath  the  key  of  David"  opened  a  door  of  glorious  and 
consistent  escape.  When  Jacob  exclaimed,  in  the  agony  of  his 
heart,  "  Joseph  is  not,  and  Simeon  is  not,  and  ye  will  take  Ben- 
jamin away  also;  all  these  things  are  against  me;"  God  opened 
a  door  through  which  he  saw  that  all  these  things  were  for  him, 
and  were  destined  to  promote  his  temporal  and  eternal  good. 
We  read  also  of  the  expression  in  Scripture,  of  a  "  door  of 
utterance  :"  Col.  iv.  3,  —  "  that  God  would  open  a  door  of  utter- 
ance ;"  as  if  to  teach  us  that  God  alone  can  inspire  a  minister  to 
speak,  not  only  what  is  true,  but  what  shall  be  powerful,  im- 
pressive, edifying.  Many  dispute  about  the  comparative  merits 
of  various  systems  of  ecclesiastical  machinery.  One  man  says, 
patronage  is  best ;  another,  that  popular  election  is  best ;  another, 
that  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  is  best,  but  that  a  compromise 
between  them  is  the  most  expedient.     Perhaps,  one  system  of 

33* 


390  THE  CIIUllCII  OF  PHILADELPHIA.         '' 

machinery  is  better  than  another ;  but  let  us  recollect  that  neither 
Christians  nor  Christian  ministers  can  be  made,  like  broadcloth, 
by  any  machinery  which  the  genius  of  man  can  construct.  Let 
us  remember  that  neither  bishops  nor  presbyters  can  make  a 
minister,  though  they  may  point  out  and  designate  one  di^nnely 
made.  "  He  that  hath  the  key  of  David,  and  openeth,  and  no 
man  shutteth,"  can  alone  open  a  heart  to  receive  the  truth,  and 
open  lips  to  express  the  truth.  It  is  not  the  votes  of  the  people, 
nor  is  it  the  presentation  of  the  patron,  that  will  secure  an 
evangelical  minister :  and  probably,  if  the  people  prayed  more 
and  wrangled  less,  and  if  churches  argued  less  about  machinery, 
and  inculcated  from  the  pulpit,  and  breathed  from  the  pew, 
prayer  to  him  who  "  has  the  key  of  David,  and  opens,  and  no 
man  shuts ;  and  shuts,  and  no  man  opens,"  there  would  be  fewer 
cold  pulpits,  and  careless  hearers,  and  retrograde  communions, 
and  dying  churches,  and  departing  glory. 

Christ  has  the  key  that  opens  the  door  of  the  grave.  Blessed 
and  glorious  truth  !  He  entered  it  himself,  and  in  the  beautiful 
language  of  an  ancient  hymn,  "  when  he  had  overcome  the 
sharpness  of  death,  he  opened  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  all 
believers."  The  grave  has  changed  its  aspect  since  the  Saviour 
slept  in  it.  Its  darkness  has  been  dispelled,  its  chains  have 
been  broken,  its  terrors  are  at  an  end.  It  has  now  ceased  to  be 
a  "sepulchre,"  and  has  become  the  cemetery  —  the  'xovfiiftrfivovt 
the  sleeping  or  resting  place — of  the  bodies  of  the  saints  of  God  : 
and  over  every  grave  in  which  a  believer  lies,  let  that  believer  be 
smitten  down  by  plague  or  pestilence  or  famine,  there  is  hung  a 
glorious  rainbow ;  and  it  may  be  engraved,  not  as  the  conjecture 
of  rash  belief,  or  the  expression  of  faint  hope,  but  as  the  solemn 
conviction  of  hearts  that  believe  and  know  it,  *'  Blessed  are  the 
dead  that  die  in  the  Lord,  for  they  rest  from  their  labours,  and 
their  works" — not  "  do  precede"  them,  for  that  would  be  giving 
them  merit ;  but  "  their  works  do  follow  them ;"  for  that  is  the 
evidence  of  their  previous  acceptance  in  Christ. 

But  let  us  notice  that  Christ,  by  one  of  those  strange  and  ap- 
parently paradoxical  statements  which  we  frequently  meet  with 
in  Scripture,  is  not  only  said  to  have  the  key,  but  to  be  himself 
"  the  door."     No  one  figure  is  adequate  to  express  the  fulness  of 


THE  KEY   OF  DAVID  AND  THE  OPEN  DOOR.     391 

Christ.  He,  therefore,  not  only  iias  the  key,  but  he  says,  "  I 
am  the  doorj"  and  again,  "I  am  the  way;"  and  again,  "John 
saw  in  heaven  a  door."  There  is  no  other  dour  of  admission  to 
heaven ;  or,  to  vary  the  phraseology,  "  there  is  none  other  name 
given  among  men,  whereby  we  can  be  saved."  Now,  what  is 
the  use  of  a  door  ?  It  is  the  legal  entrance  to  the  house.  To 
see  a  man  entering  your  house  by  the  window  would  naturally 
lead  you  to  suspect  that  he  was  a  thief  and  an  intruder.  The 
door  is  the  proper  entrance ;  and  so  Christ  is  the  only  entrance 
and  legal  access  to  God,  to  heaven,  and  to  an  everlasting  home. 
The  door  of  primeval  innocence  by  which  Adam  for  a  few  mo- 
ments approached  to  the  holy  place,  has  been  closed  amid  the 
wreck  of  paradise;  and  no  man  can  remove  the  bars  that 
enclose  it,  and  point  it  out  again  as  the  way  of  access  to  God. 
The  door  of  admission  by  human  merit  never  was  opened 
in  the  past,  and  hever  will  be  opened  in  the  future;  for  it  is 
written  upon  every  wall  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  "  By  deeds 
of  law  no  man  living  can  be  justified."  A  door  of  entrance  by 
human  suifering,  or  by  any  expiation  of  ours,  is  a  door  that  men 
have  often  tried,  but  have  always  failed  to  reach  ever  as  they  at- 
tempted it.  All  the  tears  of  saints  need  to  be  washed  in  the 
blood  of  Jesus;  all  the  merits  of  saints  need  to  be  forgiven 
through  the  righteousness  of  Jesus.  Nothing  that  man  can  suffer 
can  be  an  expiation  for  the  least  transgression, — nothing  man  can 
pay  can  be  purchase-money  for  the  least  tittle  of  heaven's  happi- 
ness, or  for  the  least  ray  of  heaven's  light.  Nor  is  there  any  door 
of  admission  into  heaven  by  the  priest,  the  sacrament,  the  cere- 
mony, the  Church,  the  ecclesiastical  rite.  Ministers  may  admit 
you  to  the  visible  Church,  or  to  the  communion  table,  or  to  the 
baptismal  font ;  but  there  their  power  ends ;  it  cannot  reach  be- 
yond this  world.  No  "  Open,  sesame,"  in  others  can  unfold  the 
gates  of  glory :  the  minister  and  the  people  must  bow  together 
and  seek  admission  at  that  door,  at  which  if  we  knock,  it  shall 
be  opened ;  at  which  if  we  stand  and  seek,  we  shall  find ;  at 
which  if  we  ask,  we  shall  assuredly  obtain. 

Then  let  us  rejoice  that  Christ  is  thus  the  way  to  heaven,  and 
also  that  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  him.  There  is 
no  other  way — no  way  that  nature  can  unfold,  or  science  discover, 


392  THE  CHURCH  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

or  money  purchase,  or  merit  secure,  or  perseverance  make.  There 
is  but  one  way  of  salvation,  and  that  is  Christ  Jesus :  and  if  so, 
is  not  that  man  in  ^er'ii  —  in  imminent  peril  —  who  is  seeking  to 
get  to  heaven  by  any  other  way  ?  For  instance,  the  Roman  Cs^ 
tholic  seeks  to  rise  to  heaven  by  a  combination  of  saints,  angels, 
human  merit,  priestly  sacrifices,  ecclesiastical  absolution,  and  such 
like.  Now,  what  can  you  say  of  such  a  man  ?  You  do  not  say 
of  A,  You  are  lost  for  ever,  or  of  B,  You  are  eternally  condemned ; 
but  this  you  do  say,  That  if  you  attempt  to  get  to  heaven  by  any 
other  way  than  that  which  Christ  has  explained  in  the  Bible,  you 
never  can  arrive  there  at  all ;  for  he  has  himself  said,  *'  No  man 
cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me."  In  the  geography  of  this 
world  there  are  many  ways  to  the  same  place  :  in  the  geography 
of  the  higher  world,  there  is  but  one  way  to  the  one  place.  If  I 
wish  to  go  from  here  to  Edinburgh,  I  may  go  by  steamer,  or  by 
railroad,  or  on  horseback,  or  on  foot,  or  by  coach.  I  may  go  by 
the  Eastern  or  the  Western  line ;  or  I  may  go  by  neither,  but 
between  them ;  and,  in  short,  if  any  one  were  to  ask  me,  "  Which 
way  shall  I  go  to  Edinburgh  ?"  I  would  say,  "  Take  the  way  which 
suits  your  purse,  your  convenience,  and  your  taste  most."  But 
if  you  ask  me.  Why,  then,  may  not  every  man  take  his  own  way 
to  heaven  ?  here  is  alike  the  reason  and  the  difference.  If  there 
were  some  dozen  of  ways  to  heaven,  then  let  every  man  take  his 
own :  but  God  himself  has  pronounced  with  the  explicitness  of 
an  oracle,  that  there  is  but  one  way  to  heaven ;  and  he  who  walks 
out  of  that  way,  however  near  to  it  he  may  walk,  misses  the  only 
way,  and  therefore  acceptance  before  God,  and  so  an  entrance  into 
glory. 

Let  us  recollect  then,  that  the  only  door  is  that  declared  in  the 
Gospel,  and  that  the  key  which  opens  it  is  in  the  possession  of 
him  who  "  opens,  and  no  man  shuts ;"  and  blessed  be  the  name 
of  our  God  for  ever  that  it  is  so  !  "  Let  us  fall  into  the  hands 
of  the  Lord;"  if  the  key  were  at  the  girdle  of  Pio  Nono,  we 
should  all  be  excluded.  If  the  key  that  opens  that  gate  hung  at 
the  girdle  of  the  most  sainted  man  upon  earth,  many  good  men 
would  prejudice,  and  passion,  and  party  pique,  exclude  from  it. 
But  we  rejoice  to  know  that  no  man  can  shut  what  Christ  has 
opened,  and  that  while  the  minister  may  tell  you  the  excellence 


THE  KEY  OF  DAVID  AND  THE  OPEN  DOOR.     393 

of  the  way,  the  beauty  of  the  way,  the  exclusiveness  of  the  way, 
the  necessity  of  the  way,  all  the  ministeps  of  all  the  Churches  in 
Christendom  cannot  shut  that  which  Christ  has  opened,  nor  open 
what  he  has  shut.  It  stands  pei-petually  open,  accessible  to  all, 
repelling  none.  Be  thankful,  nay  dear  friends,  and  cherish  it 
as  the  first  lesson  of  Protestantism,  that  there  is  nothing  be- 
tween the  greatest  sinner  and  a  reconciled  God,  but  that  sinner's 
suspicion  of  God's  love,  that  sinner's  unwillingness  to  go  to  God's 
bosom.  And  let  us  know  that  this  door  is  not  to  be  opened  by 
man's  tears,  but  that  it  is  ever  open,  and  we  have  nothing  to  do, 
to  suffer,  to  sacrifice,  to  give,  but  to  arise,  and  by  Christ,  the  door, 
go  to  our  Father,  and  have  perfect  peace  with  him  through  Jesus 
Christ. 

But  he  that  has  the  key,  and  opens,  and  no  man  shuts,  gives 
this  Church  a  character  on  which  I  would  dwell  for  a  very  few 
minutes.  It  is  this — "  Thou  hast  a  little  strength,  and  hast  kept 
my  word,  and  hast  not  denied  my  name."  This  strength  is 
plainly  not  spiritual  strength,  which  is  here  meant.  He  does  not 
convey  the  impression  that  this  Church  was  spiritually  feeble, 
but  that  she  was  physically,  numerically,  fiscally  feeble :  that  is 
to  say,  there  were  no  rich  men  to  adorn  her  pews ;  there  were  no 
large  and  crowded  congregations  to  give  excitement  to  the  hearer 
and  stimulus  to  the  feelings  of  the  preacher.  Little  was  given 
at  her  collections ;  though  that  little  was  the  expression  of  hearts 
that  were  touched  by  the  grace  of  God.  There  was  nothing  in 
the  edifice  in  which  her  people  worshipped,  there  was  nothing  in 
the  circumstances  under  which  they  met,  that  could  charm  the 
eye,  captivate  the  senses,  or  attract  the  approbation  of  the  world. 
"  Thou  hast  a  little  strength  ;"  but,  little  as  that  strength  may  be^ 
though  outwardly  feeble,  thou  art  inwardly  strong.  Though  poor 
in  this  world,  thou  art  rich  in  grace ;  though  there  are  no  great 
men  in  the  midst  of  thee,  there  are,  what  is  better,  good  men ; 
and  though  thy  influence  in  this  world  be  small,  yet  thou  hast 
influence,  where  influence  is  mighty,  with  God  the  Father, 
through  Jesus  Christ  his  Son.  And,  as  the  evidence  of  this, 
"  Thou  hast  kept  my  word,  and  hast  not  denied  my  name." 
Here  is  a  precedent,  a  precept,  an  example  for  us.  My  dear 
brethren,  the  great  duty  of  the  day,  the  great  necessity  of  the 


394  THE  CHURCH  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

crisis  at  this  moment  is,  "  to  keep  God's  word."  Man's  word 
alone  is  scepticism ;  man's  word  mingled  with  God's  word,  super- 
stition 5  God's  word  alone  is  the  wisdom  of  God,  and  the  power 
of  God  unto  salvation.  It  is  Christ's  word :  and  how  is  it  his 
word  ?  Its  preceptive  part  is  his ;  for  we  can  only  obey  in  his 
strength :  its  doctrinal  part  is  his ;  for  he  is  the  Alpha  and  the 
Omega  of  every  doctrine  :  its  promissory  part  is  his ;  for  all  the 
promises  are  "in  him  yea  and  amen:"  its  prophetic  part  is  his; 
for  he  gave  the  spirit  of  prophecy  and  superintends  the  perform- 
ance of  prophecy.  It  is  Christ's  word  :  his  name,  superscription 
and  image  are  struck  upon  its  every  page ;  and  there  is  nothing 
of  man's  in  it  except  where  it  is  so  declared.  It  is  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

But  how,  it  may  be  asked,  are  we  to  keep  this  word  ?  Keep 
it  first  as  a  solemn  and  deliberate  conviction  in  your  heads — settle 
it  in  your  judgments,  that  this  book  is  God's  book,  that  this 
volume  is  from  above.  When  you  have  once  clearly  settled  this 
conviction  in  your  minds,  do  not  let  the  hammer  of  the  geologist, 
or  the  crucible  of  the  chemist,  dislodge  it.  The  true  way  is, 
make  up  your  mind  that  the  Bible  is  true,  upon  its  own  appro- 
priate evidence, — evidence  easy  of  access  and  singularly  conclu- 
sive :  and  when  you  have  done  so,  lay  aside  in  your  mind  this 
fact  as  a  fixed  and  settled  conviction  not  to  be  disturbed ;  and 
when  some  geologist  brings  up  some  new  and  extraordinary  fossil 
from  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  tells  you  it  proves  that  the 
Mosaic  account  of  the  creation  is  a  fable,  you  must  answer  "  The 
greater  probability  is  that  your  discovery  is  a  blunder;  this  fact 
I  have  settled  on  the  clearest  evidence,  that  the  book  of  Genesis 
is  the  word  of  God."  Do  not  tremble  when  some  one  comes  from 
soaring  amid  the  stars,  or  excavating  the  earth,  or  diving  in  the 
sea,  and  tells  you  he  has  found  something  which  proves  Christi- 
anity to  be  untrue  and  the  Bible  uninspired.  Why  should  a 
believer  in  God's  word  quake  and  tremble  when  man's  word 
assails  it?  Settle  it  in  your  minds,  I  say,  on  the  clearest 
evidence,  that  the  Bible  is  God's  book ;  and  when  you  have 
done  so,  say  to  the  geologist,  the  astronomer,  or  the  metaphy- 
sician who  would  persuade  you  otherwise,  "My  mind  is  fixed  — 
my  conviction  is  complete  :  I  am  quite  sure  that  your  discovery, 


THE  KEY  OF  DAVID  AND  THE  OPEN  DOOR.     395 

if  it  agrees  not  with  God's  word,  will  be  found  on  maturer  inves- 
tigation to  be  a  misapprehension ;  or  that  what  seem  now  to  be 
contradictory,  your  phenomena  and  my  Bible,  are  only  two  lines 
which  appear  to  be  perfectly  parallel,  and  which,  if  so,  would 
never  meet  •  yet,  though  at  present  unnoticed  by  us,  a  little  fur- 
ther inspection  will  show  that  there  is  a  slight  inclination  in  the 
one,  and,  however  slight,  they  must  meet  and  blend  together  in 
the  end."  Depend  upon  it  that  revelation,  science,  and  provi- 
dence, are  all  lines  proceeding  from  the  same  source,  and  will  all 
return  and  meet  and  mingle  in  the  fountain  from  which  they 
originally  proceeded.  Settle  it,  therefore*,  in  your  minds,  that 
the  Bible  is  true :  "  Keep  my  word"  as  the  conviction  of  your 
judgment — as  a  settled  and  an  immovable  fact. 

In  the  second  place,  keep  this  word  of  Christ  in  your  memory. 
Store  your  memory  with  living  seed,  and  there  will  be  no  room 
for  chaff  to  enter.  Let  not  the  fumes  of  passion  conceal  it ;  let 
not  the  waves  of  the  world  expunge  it;  let  not  the  tread  of  this 
world's  traffic  destroy  it ;  but  keep  ever  nearest,  dearest,  closest 
to  your  heart,  this  great  fact  lodged  in  your  memory — "God's 
word  is  truth." 

"  Keep  it,"  in  the  next  place,  as  the  joy  of  your  heart's  inner- 
most affections.  "  Thy  word,"  says  the  psalmist,  "  have  I  hid  in 
my  heart,  that  I  might  not  sin  against  thee."  We  shall  never 
keep  a  thing  tenaciously,  until  we  love  that  thing  heartily.  Love 
is  the  strongest  tie  upon  earth.  What  one  loves  strongly,  one  is 
sure  to  hold  firmly.  If  you  have  been  taught  by  God's  Holy 
Spirit  to  love  God's  blessed  book,  and  to  love  it  because  it  hrs 
been  light  cast  upon  your  difficulties,  and  calm  on  your  troubles, 
and  peace  amid  your  despondencies  and  fears — then,  having  hid 
it  in  your  heart,  you  will  keep  that  word  as  not  the  least  precious 
possession. 

"  Keep  it,"  in  the  next  place,  in  your  walk,  your  life,  and  your 
daily  conversation.  Show  to  the  world  that  the  Bible  is  not  a 
dead  and  dry  document,  which,  like  an  ancient  parchment,  you 
keep  as  a  curiosity ;  but  that  it  is  a  living,  plastic  principle,  which 
transforms,  illuminates,  elevates,  and  sanctifies  your  whole  walk 
and  conversation  and  life.  Show  the  world  that  the  Christian  is 
a  man  not  merely  with  the  Bible  in  his  pocket,  but  a  man  with 


896  THE  CHURCH  OF  PHILADELPHU. 

the  Bible  transferred  by  a  better  than  daguerreotype  process  to 
his  heart,  his  conscience,  and  his  daily  walk. 

"Be,"  and  not  "seem;"  "love,"  and  not  simply  "believe." 
Let  the  world  see,  on  the  exchange,  in  the  warehouse,  in  the 
shop,  the  senate,  the  home,  that  you  are  better  merchants,  better 
fathers,  better  husbands,  better  citizens,  better  legislators,  be- 
cause the  Bible  was  written,  and  Christianity  has  been  made 
known  to  you.  Keep  that  word  in  spite  of  Satan  who  would 
steal  it,  in  spite  of  man  who  would  corrupt  it,  in  opposition  to 
the  Socinian  who  would  subtract  from  it  much  that  is  divine,  and 
of  the  Romanist  who  would  add  to  it  much  that  is  human.  Keep 
it  as  your  compass  in  a  tempestuous  sea ;  as  the  pole  star  when 
you  wander  in  the  pathless  desert ;  as  the  chart  that  gives  you 
the  outline  of  your  glorious  home,  and  your  way  thither,  —  till 
you  come  to  that  state  where  the  chart,  the  pole  star,  and  the 
compass  shall  be  useless,  because  then  the  Lord  God  and  the 
Lamb  are  the  light  thereof. 

And  lastly,  says  the  Saviour  to  this  Church,  notwithstanding 
your  little  strength,  "Thou  hast  not  denied  my  name."  This  is 
equivalent  to,  "  Thou  hast  not  been  ashamed  of  the  Gospel," 
How  extraordinary  it  is,  let  me  just  add  in  conclusion,  that  any 
man  upon  earth  should  be  ashamed  of  the  Gospel !  Did  you  ever 
see  a  beautiful  woman  ashamed  of  her  beauty  ?  or  hear  of  a  rich 
man  being  ashamed  of  his  wealth  ?  Did  you  ever  hear  of  a  clever 
man  being  ashamed  of  his  talent,  or  a  shrewd  man  of  business 
anxious  to  hide  the  fact  that  he  was  so  ?  Do  you  not  find,  on  the 
contrary,  that  natural  men,  so  wise  in  their  generation,  are  so  far 
from  being  ashamed  of  their  gifts,  that  they  rather  take  pride  in 
them  more  than  they  should,  and  glory  in  them,  and  take  the 
greatest  care  that  they  shall  be  widely  and  thoroughly  known  ? 
Then  how  comes  it  to  pass  that  men  are  ashamed  of  nothing  that 
is  beautiful,  or  precious,  or  valuable  below;  yet  that  they  are 
ashamed  of  that  beside  which  all  the  riches  of  Croesus  are  but  so 
much  dross  which  might  be  grasped  thus  —  in  comparison  with 
which  all  the  honour  of  the  world  is  but  show,  and  the  life  of  the 
world  is  but  a  vapour,  and  the  fame  of  the  world  is  but  an  empty 
echo  ?  Disclaim,  noblemen,  your  rank ;  literary  men,  your  talent ; 
rich  men,  your  wealth ;  beautiful  women,  your  beauty :  but  oh  I 


THE  KEY  OF  DAVID  AND  THE  OPEN  DOOR.     397 

deny  not,  nor  disclaim,  nor  be  ashamed  of  that  which  has  raised 
woman  to  her  loftiest  dignity  —  given  man  his  purest  and  his 
brightest  hopes  —  transformed  every  bye-way  of  individual  life, 
and  every  high-way  of  public  being;  be  not  ashamed  of  that 
which  teaches  you  infinity  is  your  home — eternity  your  lifetime — 
the  Son  of  God  your  Saviour,  and  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  your 
exceeding  great  and  unspeakable  reward.  Be  not  ashamed  of  that 
name  "  which  is  above  every  name" — that  name  which  was  com- 
menced at  Antioch,  and  shall  not  cease  to  be  musical  and  glorious 
when  time  shall  be  no  more — that  name  before  which  angels  pros- 
trate themselves,  and  at  which  every  knee  shall  bow,  and  every 
tongue  confess  that  Christ  is  all  and  in  all — that  name  which  shall 
be  engraven  on  the  earth  as  on  the  Lord's  redeemed  and  brightest 
jewel  —  whose  letters  shall  also  be  the  stars  in  the  sky  —  whose 
sound  shall  be  the  voice  of  a  great  multitude,  and  as  the  voice 
of  many  waters,  and  as  the  voice  of  great  thunders  :  "  Hallelujah, 
for  the  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth."     Amen. 


S4 


LECTURE  XXV. 


HOLD    FAST. 


"Behold,  I  come  quickly:  hold  that  fast  which  thou  hast,  that  no  man  take 
thy  crown." — Rev.  iii.  11. 

In  looking  at  the  command  expressed  in  the  text,  the  first 
question  which  arises  is,  What  are  we  to  hold  fast  ?  At  the 
Reformation  the  Christians  were  called,  as  you  will  find  in  Fox's 
"Martyrs,"  the  "hold  fasts."  They  were  so  distinguished  for 
their  holding  with  a  firm  grasp  the  great  truths  that  they  loved. 
Let  us  then  inquire,  what  we  are  to  hold  fast.  Some  things  you 
are  to  hold  very  loosely  indeed,  and  other  things  very  lightly. 
Your  life  you  do  hold  very  loosely;  you  know  not  when  it  may 
be  taken  from  you.  Your  rank,  your  estate,  you  may  hold 
loosely ;  none  of  these  are  yours ;  you  are  but  stewards  of  them ; 
these  are  God's,  and  he  takes  them  when,  where,  and  how  he 
pleases.  Other  things  you  must  nold  very  lightly.  Hold  lightly, 
if  you  like,  the  Prayer  Book,  but  not  the  Bible ;  hold  lightly,  if 
you  like,  the  Established  Church,  but  not  the  Church  of  Christ ; 
hold  lightly,  if  you  like,  form,  ceremony,  rite,  for  all  these  things, 
however  valuable,  are  not  vital, — but  hold  fast  other  things  which 
are  infinitely  precious,  the  adjuration  of  which  is  the  renunciation 
of  our  life.  Some  things,  then,  we  are  to  hold  very  loosely  in- 
deed; other  things  we  may  hold  very  lightly  indeed ;  but  some 
things  we  arc  to  hold  fast  at  all  cost  and  sacrifice,  and  whatever 
be  the  inconvenience  that  attends  our  doing  so.  Let  me  mention 
some  of  these  things. 

The  first  thing  that  occurs  to  me  which  you  are  to  hold  fast, 
because  of  its  intrinsic  excellence  and  value,  as  well  as  its  bear- 

(398) 


HOLD  FAST.  89^ 

ing  on  us  and  our  progress,  is  the  Bible,  the  word  of  God,  the 
directory  of  life,  the  rule  of  faith.  It  is  always  first  assailed  or 
undermined  or  stolen :  it  must  be  first  secured.  ''  Hold  fast" 
your  Bible.  "  The  Bible  alone  is  the  religion  of  Protestants." 
It  is  the  charter  of  your  rights,  the  depository  of  your  duties, 
the  palladium  of  your  safety.  Let  the  priest  shut  the  Bible,  and 
depend  upon  it  the  politician  will  soon  burn  the  Magna  Charta. 
Let  the  priest  get  your  conscience  under  his  control,  and  the 
tyrant  will  soon  seize  your  liberties  and  put  them  at  his  disposal. 
That  people  who  hold  fast  the  Bible  never  can  be  slaves ;  the 
people  that  let  go  the  Bible  never  can  long  remain  free  :  yet  these, 
precious  though  they  be,  are  but  its  temporal  blessings.  It  is 
the  great  ensign  beneath  which  humanity  has  ever  found  a  cham- 
pion, freedom  its  firmest  footing,  and  religion  has  built  its  holiest 
altar.  There  is  not  a  babe  on  its  mother's  knee,  that  is  not 
better  because  that  book  has  been  written ;  there  is  not  a  soul  in 
this  land,  even  the  most  miserable  and  forlorn,  that  has  not  in  it 
some  bright  rays  because  this  blessed  book  has  been  written  and 
inspired  by  the  Spirit  of  Grod. 

You  cannot  fail  to  see  that  the  book  which  has  made  so  deep 
and  so  wide  an  impression  upon  the  world,  cannot  be  a  book  that 
is  from  man.  The  greatest  books  that  have  ever  proceeded  from  the 
pen  of  man,  emit  transient  and  momentary  gleams,  meteor-like, 
and  are  forgotten  5  but  this  book  gives  names  to  our  children, 
consecration  to  our  weddings,  and  comfort  at  our  graves.  It  is 
the  substance  of  the  conversation  of  our  streets,  the  basis  of  our 
laws,  the  strength  of  our  constitution ;  its  theology  is  the  every- 
day conversation  of  our  tradesmen  in  their  shops,  of  our  workmen 
at  their  looms.  There  is  not  an  acre  of  the  earth  that  is  not 
altered  because  the  Bible  was  written ;  and  there  is  not  a  throne 
that  is  not  rendered  more  secure  than  it  would  otherwise  have 
been  because  associated  with  that  book }  and  there  is  not  a  nation 
upon  earth  that  has  not,  directly  or  indirectly,  derived  from  its 
inexhaustible  stores,  innumerable  temporal,  national,  and  social 
blessings.  Let  not  the  skeptic  snatch  it  from  you ;  let  not  the 
Socinian  mutilate  it;  let  not  the  Romanist  corrupt  it.  It  is 
God's  great  gift  to  you ;  hold  it  fast,  till  he  that  wrote  it  comes 
himself  to  you,  or  takes  you  to  himself.     The  Bible !  how  rich 


400  THE  CHURCH  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

and  sacred  are  its  blessings !  the  only  rule  of  our  faith,  the  great 
foundation  of  our  hope.  Yet  it  is  not  a  book  -which  contains 
theories  for  clever  men  to  discuss  or  great  men  to  dispute  about  j 
but  truths  for  all  men  to  receive  as  from  God. 

This  blessed  book  is  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  Do 
not,  therefore,  mind  what  men  say  about  the  Bible,  but  observe 
what  the  Bible  says  about  men.  Whatever  this  book  repudiates, 
is  heresy ;  whatever  it  rebukes,  is  sin ;  whatever  it  is  silent  on, 
is  not  essential  to  our  salvation.  Now,  just  recollect  these  three 
distinctions.  Whatever  this  book  rebukes,  is  sin  ;  whatever  this 
book  repudiates,  is  heresy ;  and  whatever  this  book  is  silent  on, 
(I  care  not  how  excellent  it  may  be,)  cannot  be  essential  to  our 
salvation.  Those  questions  and  disputes  about  form  and  cere- 
mony that  agitate  the  visible  Church  are  non-essential,  because 
the  Bible  is  silent  about  them.  It  is  a  book  for  the  people  :  for 
their  good,  their  improvement,  their  joy.  The  great  deception 
practised  during  the  dark  ages  was  this — that  the  Bible  was  a 
book  for  the  clergy,  and  not  for  the  laity.  What  was  the  grand 
fact  taught  at  the  Reformation  ?  That  the  Bible  is  the  people's 
own  book ;  it  was  written  for  them,  it  is  meant  for  them.  It  is 
God's  fatherly  voice  sounding  from  the  skies,  and  speaking  to  his 
own  children.  It  is  his  paternal  encyclical  to  his  own  family. 
My  dear  friends,  let  no  interdict  stand  between  you  and  that 
book,  or  dare  to  limit  or  control  your  perusal  of  it.  God  has 
enfranchised  you,  and  man  may  not  disfranchise  you.  It  is 
your  right,  it  is  your  privilege,  to  take  that  book  and  open 
it,  and  read  it,  and  learn  the  way  to  your  Father's  presence 
and  to  the  love  of  your  Father's  heart.  Let  not  even  the 
shadow  of  a  bishop  or  an  archbishop,  or  even  of  a  pope,  stand 
between  you  and  that  blessed  book,  or  in  any  degree  darken  its 
page.  When  Duns  Scotus,  or  angelic  doctors,  or  seraphic  doctors, 
or  councils,  or  fathers,  or  priests  come  to  you  and  proffer  their 
help,  tell  them  to  remain  at  the  bottom  of  the  mount  while  you 
ascend  to  its  sunlit  height  alone,  and  hear  your  dear  Father  speak 
to  you  in  his  own  sweet  and  confiding  tones.  "  I  wish  to  hear 
God  for  himself,  and  he  has  bid  me  open  this  blessed  book,  where 
he  speaks  to  me  in  his  own  words,  and  rejoices  my  heart,  and  illu- 
minates my  mind,  guides  me  to  heaven,  and  leads  me  back  again 
*o  himgelf." 


HOLD  FAST.  401 

Hold  fast  the  Bible  as  the  great  rule  of  faith.  Contact  with 
human  books  may  humanize;  contact  with  a  divine  book  exalts, 
spiritualizes,  glorifies.  Valuable  as  articles  may  be,  valuable  as 
confessions  of  faith  may  be,  valuable  as  catechisms  are  —  never, 
never  make  them  substitutes  for  the  Bible.  The  difference  be- 
tween a  catechism  and  the  Bible  is  just  the  difference  between  a 
book  with  pictures  of  flowers  and  tables  of  their  botanical  arrange- 
ment, and  the  beautiful  garden  or  nursery  fragrant  with  the 
aroma  of  flowers  and  glorious  with  their  thousand  tints.  The 
human  compendium  is  the  artificial  gas ;  God's  book  is  the  pure 
atmosphere  of  heaven.  To  hold  fast  the  Bible  is  a  vital  point : 
what  is  beyond  it,  you  may  dispute ;  what  is  outside  it,  you  may 
disregard,  but  cleave  to  and  hold  fast  that  which  is  within  it.  It 
is  your  life  :  it  is  your  peace  below ;  it  is  your  happiness  above  : 
it  is  your  all.  You  cannot  be  too  decided  or  determined  that  you 
will  hold  fast  the  Bible,  though  all  popes  should  curse  you  — 
though  all  infidels  should  laugh  at  you — though  the  whole  world 
should  point  the  finger  at  you  —  though  it  should  cost  you  your 
property,  your  life,  yet  hold  fast  the  Bible  as  your  only  rule  of 
faith. 

Such  is  my  first  prescription ;  and  my  second  is  like  unto  it : 
"  Hold  fast"  Christ  and  him  crucified.  Justification  by  faith  iu 
his  precious  blood  is  the  great,  prominent,  and  distinctive  dogma 
that  gives  its  colouring,  its  tone,  its  shape,  to  all  the  truths  of 
theology,  to  all  the  contents  of  this  blessed  book.  This  great 
truth,  as  you  perceive  by  the  lesson  or  chapter  which  we  read  this 
evening,  is  not  a  mere  doctrine  that  occurs  here  and  disappears 
there,  and  that  may  be  overlooked  or  laid  aside ;  it  is  the  very 
trunk  of  Christianity,  and  all  other  doctrines  are  but  branches;  it 
is  the  very  pith  and  substance  of  the  Gospel,  and  other  doctrines 
as  parasites  that  feed  on  it ;  it  is  its  Alpha  and  its  Omega,  its  core, 
its  centre,  its  circumference.  Patriarchs  anxiously  expected  its 
manifestation  —  prophets  predicted  it,  evangelists  have  recorded 
it,  martyrs  died  for  it,  and  they  all,  with  one  consent,  give  utter- 
ance to  their  feelings  substantially  in  those  simple,  but  sublime 
words,  "  God  forbid  that  we  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord." 

84* 


402  THE  CHURCH  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

Let  justification  by  faith  alone  in  the  righteousness  of  Christ 
perish  from  your  creed,  and  cease  to  form  the  foundation  of  yout 
faith  and  your  hope ;  let  it  once  occupy  a  subordinate  place,  or 
cease  to  occupy  the  supremacy  and  sovereignty,  and  all  your  views 
will  become  confused,  your  confidence  in  God  will  be  shaken — ^you 
will  tremble  when  a  leaf  falls  —  you  will  be  afraid  that  you  shall 
be  lost  for  ever  when  failings  and  infirmities  occur,  and  your  life 
will  be  a  life  of  doubt  and  wretchedness,  because  a  life  of  want  of 
confidence  and  trust  in  God.  But  let  this  truth  strike  its  roots  into 
your  souls,  and  become  part  and  parcel  of  all  your  religion,  that 
you  are  justified,  not  by  anything  you  are,  nor  by  anything  you  do, 
nor  by  anything  you  can  pay,  but  wholly,  at  the  day  of  death,  as  now 
in  the  midst  of  life,  by  the  finished  righteousness  of  Christ  in  our 
stead — "Then  let  the  mountains  be  cast  into  the  midst  of  the  sea, 
and  let  the  earth  shake  with  the  swelling  thereof" — God,  you  feel, 
is  your  refuge,  and  therefore  you  shall  not  be  afraid ;  the  Lord  will 
help  you,  and  that  right  early.  Surrender  not  then  this  truth ; 
hold  it  fast,  in  heart,  in  conscience,  in  life — the  article,  as  Luther 
called  it,  of  a  standing  or  a  falling  Church.  That  arch,  of  which 
this  is  not  the  key-stone,  will  soon  crumble ;  that  superstructure 
of  which  this  is  not  the  foundation  will  soon  fall ;  and  that  Christian 
will  have  neither  a  consistent  nor  a  happy  life,  whose  confidence  in 
this  truth  is  in  any  degree  shaken.  If  Noah  had  not  had  full  con- 
fidence in  God's  word,  ever  as  the  waves  rose  and  the  winds  blew, 
and  the  hail  and  the  rain  poured  down  upon  the  roof  of  his  ark, 
his  heart  would  have  sunk  within  him ;  but  Noah  knew,  because 
God  had  said  it,  that  all  the  waves  of  ocean  and  all  the  winds  of 
heaven  could  not  overturn  that  vessel,  not  because  the  vessel 
was  so  strong,  or  Noah  so  worthy,  but  because  God  was  so  faith- 
ful and  his  word  so  true. 

When  the  destroying  angel  swept  through  the  streets  of  Egypt, 
and  when  the  poor  Israelite  in  the  house  on  whose  lintels  the 
blood  was  sprinkled,  heard  the  rush  of  the  angel's  wing  as  he 
passed  by,  and  the  wild  wail  and  lamentations  that  arose  from 
his  next  neighbour's  house  over  his  slaughtered  first-born,  pro- 
bably that  Israelite  trembled  with  terror  and  alarm.  But  it 
mattered  not :  he  knew  he  was  as  safe  as  if  all  the  attributes  of 
God  encompassed  him  round  about :  the  angel  dared  not  touch 


HOLD  FAST.  403 

him :  his  house  was  safe,  not  because  its  inhabitant  was  holy, 
but  because  the  blood  upon  the  threshold  was  for  that  house  a 
full  and  perfect  protection.  So  it  is  with  us :  our  safety  is  not  to 
be  found  by  looking  within,  or  by  looking  beneath ;  but  by  look- 
ing above  and  leaning  upon  him  who  was  made  our  sin  that  we 
might  be  made  his  righteousness.  Hold  fast  justification  by 
faith  alone  in  the  finished  and  perfect  righteousness  of  Jesus  as 
a  vital,  fundamental,  and  essential  truth ;  and  then  you  will  have 
in  the  possession  of  this  truth  one  of  the  strongest  antidotes  to 
Romanism.  If  the  priest  comes  to  tell  you  you  need  his  abso- 
lution, you  can  answer  him,  "  I  have  perfect  absolution  in  the 
blood  of  Jesus."  If  he  tells  you  you  must  go  and  do  good 
works  in  order  to  earn  God's  favour,  tell  him  you  "  have  a  per- 
fect righteousness  in  Emmanuel,  and  so  a  perfect  title  without 
works."  If  he  tells  you  you  have  to  propitiate  God's  anger,  tell 
him  that  God  already  so  loved  you  that  he  gave  his  own  Son  to 
die  for  you,  and  is  reconciled  to  you,  and  you  to  him.  This 
grand  truth,  just  in  proportion  as  it  is  felt,  will  pass  like  a  plough- 
share through  all  the  superstitions  of  Rome.  Already  it  startles 
pope,  prelates,  priests ;  and  it  marks,  by  its  accents,  the  day  is 
nearer  when  the  Gospel  shall  again  be  preached  on  the  banks  of 
the  Tiber,  and  martyrs  for  Christ  shall  seal  with  their  blood  the 
truth  to  which  they  testified  in  the  nineteenth  century  as  they 
did  eighteen  centuries  ago. 

Another  doctrine  that  you  are  to  hold  fast,  is,  Regeneration 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  This  doctrine  is  another  great  doc- 
trine of  Christianity;  justification  by  the  righteousness  of  Christ 
was  called  by  Luther  the  article  of  a  standing  or  a  falling  Church  : 
regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit  may  truly  be  called  the  article 
of  a  living  or  a  dying  Church.  In  order  that  there  be  a  living 
Church,  this  doctrine  must  be  proclaimed  as  a  truth  by  the 
minister's  lips,  and  it  must  be  entertained  as  a  reality  in  the 
people's  hearts.  In  the  present  day  it  is  the  great  doctrine  that 
is  now  most  in  danger.  It  is  assailed  by  many  who  assert  that 
regeneration  of  the  heart,  or  being  born  again,  is  merely  a  strong 
figure  which  we  had  better  not  make  too  much  of.  It  is  super- 
seded by  others  who  tell  you  that  if  you  belong  to  the  Church, 
you  are  sure  to  be  regenerate ;  or,  if  you  are  baptized,  you  must 


404  THE  CHURCH  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

have  in  and  from  baptism  a  new  heart.  It  is  misapprehended 
and  explained  away  by  others  till  it  means  nothing  at  all.  But 
it  remains  true — at  last  as  at  the  first.  Hold  fast,  I  implore  you, 
this  truth,  "  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the 
kingdom  of  God."  It  is  the  inculcation  of  this  doctrine  that 
lays  the  creature  in  the  dust  by  enabling  the  creature  to  feel  that 
he  is  dead ;  and  reveals  Christ  upon  his  throne  by  showing  that 
creature  that  God  must  do  all,  for  the  creature  can  do  nothing. 
Justification  is  a  change  of  state ;  regeneration  is  a  change  of 
character.  Justification  lifts  you  to  a  new  land;  regenera- 
tion, or  rather  the  Spirit  of  God,  by  its  means,  enables  you 
to  breathe  the  air  of  that  land.  Justification  gives  you  a 
title  to  new  blessings ;  but  regeneration  makes  you  fit  to  enjoy 
those  blessings.  By  this  change  the  polarity  of  man  is  reversed : 
the  flesh,  which  was  the  positive  pole,  becomes  negative ;  and  the 
spirit,  which  was  the  negative  pole,  becomes  now  the  positive  j 
all  things  are  inverted  and  become  new.  Hold  fast,  then,  re- 
generation by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  as  your  fitness  for  heaven ; 
— God's  book  the  depository  of  all  theology — ^justification  your 
title  —  regeneration  your  fitness,  —  hold  them  fast,  for  they  are 
your  life. 

Hold  fast  another  privilege,  and  that  a  precious  one,  obscured 
and  darkened  as  it  often  is — ^your  right  and  liberty  and  welcome 
to  go  to  God  in  praise,  in  prayer,  in  communion  with  him,  with- 
out any  other  being  upon  earth  to  come  between  you  and  him. 
Hold  fast,  I  say,  your  right  and  privilege  to  go  to  God  in  Christ, 
and  call  him  your  Father,  and  hold  communion  with  him,  and 
walk  with  him  as  Enoch  walked,  and  speak  with  him  as  Abraham 
spoke ;  and  feel  that  no  priest,  nor  pope,  nor  rite,  nor  ceremony 
has  any  right  to  come  between  you  and  your  God.  You  do  not 
want  them  to  introduce  you  to  God ;  you  do  not  need  them  to  be 
stepping-stones  to  help  you  to  God :  God  is  near  to  you ;  where 
there  is  a  holy  temple  upon  earth,  a  sanctified  heart,  there  God 
himself  is  present  in  the  midst  of  it. 

Let  me  then  entreat  you  to  hold  fast  these  great  truths.  Hold 
fast  in  Christ  alone,  atoning,  expiatory  power ;  in  the  Holy  Spirit 
alone,  regenerative  and  sanctifying  virtue ;  in  the  Bible  alone,  a 
conclusive  and  infallible  directory.     The  cross  accessible  to  all  ^ 


HOLD  FAST.  405 

the  Spirit  necessary  to  all ;  the  Bible  open  to  all.  Allow  no  man 
to  shroud  the  first — no  man  to  disparage'  the  second — no  man  to 
shut  the  third.  "  Hold  fast  till  Christ  comes."  This  is  your 
charge ;  this  is  your  commission ;  this  is  the  duty  that  devolves 
upon  you.  True,  you  will  have  much  inconvenience  ;  true,  you 
will  have  to  sacrifice  much  you  love  and  like ;  true,  you  will  have 
to  run  in  the  face  of  the  opposition  of  some,  and  encounter  the 
scorn  of  others.  True,  you  will  have  to  suffer;  but  you  must 
have  made  up  your  minds  for  this.  Who  begins  a  warfare  with- 
out first  counting  the  cost  ?  In  this  fallen  world,  how  can  we 
expect  to  do  our  duty  and  not  pay  the  penalty  ?  or,  who  expects 
that  while  the  sun  is  as  he  is,  there  will  be  any  human  being 
without  a  shadow?  Let  us  then  hold  fast ;  God  will  take  care  of 
us ;  we  have  simply  to  do  his  commission — to  hold  fast,  to  promote 
his  glory,  to  do  his  behest  —  having  our  "  eye  single,  and  our 
whole  body  shall  be  full  of  light." 

Having  mentioned  these  great  and  primary  truths  which  we 
are  to  hold  fast,  let  me  notice,  in  the  next  place,  how  they  are 
to  be  held  fast.  Hold  fast  these  truths  in  your  minds.  And  why 
do  I  say  so  ?  On  this  account :  Christianity  is  a  rational  faith  ; 
it  demands  and  appeals  to  your  judgment.  First  satisfy  your 
minds  on  clear  and  conclusive  proofs,  that  the  Bible  is  God's 
word — that  the  atonement  is  a  central  truth — that  regeneration 
by  the  Spirit  is  an  essential  article  of  faith  j  satisfy  your  minds 
that  these  are  truths,  and  when  you  have  done  so,  lay  aside  in  the 
depths  of  your  souls  these  precious  truths ;  do  not  bring  them  into 
discussion  every  day ;  do  not  di'ag  them  forth  from  the  recesses 
of  your  heart  into  the  arena  of  struggle.  Be  satisfied  on  clear 
.grounds  that  the  Bible  is  true,  and  that  these  doctrines  are  in  it; 
and  when  you  have  done  so,  lay  them  aside  in  some  sequestered 
nook  in  your  minds,  as  truths  that  are  fixed  and  that  you  cannot 
admit  to  be  re-discussed :  and  so  square  your  faith  and  hope  and 
life  and  conduct  by  them,  as  absolute  truths.  Contend,  suffer, 
sacrifice,  in  order  to  express  your  faith ;  but  do  not  always  have 
disputes  about  the  very  foundation  and  essential  elements  of  your 
faith.  When  you  have  clearly  seen  these  truths,  and  are  fully 
satisfied  that  they  are  truths,  then  lay  them  up  as  fixed  and  sealed 
convictions,  too  sacred  to  be  touched,  too  secure   to  be  under- 


406  THE  CHURCH  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

mined.  You  have  no  idea  what  security  this  "will  give  you, 
when  one  comes  and  says,  "  How  can  the  Bible  be  true  when 
it  contains  such  a  sentiment  ?"  You  reply,  "  On  grounds 
to  me  perfectly  conclusive,  I  have  determined  that  this  book  comes 
from  Grod ;  and  that  fact  I  cannot  consent  to  dispute  with  you 
again.  I  hold  it  fast,  because  upon  conclusive  evidence  I  have 
proved  it  to  be  the  book  of  God." 

And  when  you  have  it  clearly  fixed  in  your  heads,  the  next, 
and  a  very  important  point,  is,  to  have  it  riveted  in  your  hearts 
also.  First  it  enters  the  head ;  next,  it  must  find  a  lodgment  in 
the  heart.  You  must  expect  that  the  mind  will  be  enlightened 
before  the  heart  is  impressed;  but  if  the  mind  is  enlightened  with 
the  right  sort  of  light,  the  high  probability  is,  that  the  heart  will 
be  afiected  with  the  warm  and  genial  influence  of  that  light.  You 
know  that  the  heart  has  a  mighty  influence  on  the  head ;  and  that 
often  a  man's  creed  is  not  the  result  of  reasoning,  proofs,  convic- 
tions, but  of  sympathy,  afiiection,  love ;  he  takes  it  because  he 
likes  it,  or  wishes  it  to  be  true.  There  is  a  complete  Christian 
only  when  the  creed  is  first  light,  and  then  loved;  and  when  this 
creed  has  become  light  in  his  head  and  love  in  his  heart,  then 
such  light  and  love  together  constitutes  Christian  life.  Hold  fast 
these  truths,  first  in  your  head,  laying  them  aside  as  fixed,  set- 
tled, firm  convictions.  Pray  that  you  may  clearly  comprehend 
the  truths  of  God,  and  then  pray  —  pray  earnestly,  that  you  may 
cordially  accept  them,  till  their  fibres  are  intertwined  in  your 
hearts,  and  so  rooted  there  that  they  cannot  be  moved. 

And  lastly,  let  these  truths  break  forth  in  your  conduct.  What- 
ever a  man  is  deeply,  earnestly,  and  truly  convinced  of,  is  sure  to 
appear  more  or  less  luminously  in  his  outward  walk.  You  need  not 
be  anxious  about  the  outward  walk,  till  you  first  have  the  inner  life. 
You  may  depend  upon  it  that  man  who  has  life  in  his  body  will  not 
need  to  apply  to  a  master  to  know  how  to  move  his  legs,  or  how  to 
lift  his  hand.  What  is  wanted  is  life,  and  the  whole  body  will  be 
quick  with  action.  It  is  so  with  Christian  character:  we  need 
not  to  be  taught  first  how  to  walk,  but  first  where  to  get  life ; 
and  when  there  is  Christian  life  in  the  heart,  it  is  wonderful  how 
vigorous,  how  consistent,  the  whole  walk  becomes.  Be  Christians, . 
and  then  you  will  live  like  Christians ;  but  till  you  are  Christians, 
all  you  are  besides  is  not  life,  but  an  apology  for  life. 


HOLD  FAST.  407 

Hold  fast  then  these  great  truths  in  your  head,  in  your  heart, 
and  in  your  life,  for  they  are  unspeakably  precious  —  more  pre- 
cious than  gold,  yea  than  much  fine  gold.  When  we  lie  down  on 
a  death-bed,  philosophy,  science,  literature,  and  poetry,  all  must 
leave  us,  as  miserable  comforters ;  and  only  one  thing  can  come 
near  to  our  hearts,  as  peace,  and  life,  and  perfect  repose  —  the 
glorious  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God. 

Hold  fast  these  truths,  in  the  next  place,  because  they  have 
many  enemies  ready  to  attack  and  injure  them.  We  live  in  a 
cold,  freezing  world,  which  is  constantly  carrying  off  the  vital 
warmth  that  is  within  us.  We  walk  amidst  enemies  within,  ene- 
mies without — enemies  in  our  hearts,  enemies  in  our  homes :  and 
it  is  therefore  essential  that  we  should  hold  fast  these  truths  be- 
cause we  are  in  a  hostile  world,  and  amid  hostile  influences.  And 
to  enable  you  to  do  so,  study  God's  word  as  your  directory ;  draw 
near  to  God  fervently  and  frequently  for  strength.  Pray  that  he 
may  give  you  a  heart  right  with  him,  and  you  will  find  that  that 
new  heart  will  prompt  you  to  act  in  accordance  with  his  will.  I 
believe  that  no  sincere  man  thirsting  after  God  and  acting  up  to 
the  light  he  has,  is  ever  left  of  God  without  getting  more  light  to 
lead  him  to  the  Lamb  and  to  the  knowledge  and  enjoyment  of 
everlasting  peace.  And  not  only  pray  for  it,  but  also  watch, 
stand  fast,  quit  you  like  men ;  "  Blessed  is  he  that  watcheth  and 
keepeth  his  garments."  Come  to  the  sanctuary  as  to  a  spring  in 
the  valley  of  Baca  to  refresh  you ;  come  to  the  house  of  God  for 
bread  to  nourish  you,  for  new  motives,  new  hopes,  new  strength. 
It  is  on  the  week-day  that  you  are  to  show  your  Christianity ;  it 
is  on  the  Sabbath  that  you  are  to  obtain,  by  the  blessing  of  God, 
the  motives,  the  principles,  the  power,  the  grace  that  will  enable 
you  to  do  so.  It  is  true  that  many  come  to  the  house  of  God 
who  are  not  Christians,  but  it  is  equally  true  that  no  real  Christian 
fails  to  come  to  the  house  of  God. 

Hold  fast  these  truths  till  Christ  come.  No  change  of  circum- 
stances is  to  change  your  creed.  You  have  nothing  to  do  with 
circumstances  but  to  shape  them  to  your  purpose.  You  will 
always  find  that  a  bad  workman  lays  all  the  blame  of  his  blunders 
to  his  bad  tools  :  whereas,  the  truth  is,  that  a  good  workman  with 
bad  tools  will  do  great  things ;  but  a  bad  workman  with  the  best 
tools  will  do  little  work.     Often  we  find  that  when  Christians  err 


408  THE  CHURCH  OF  THILADELPHIA. 

— and  they  do  sometimes  fall  short — they  generally  lay  the  blame 
on  their  circumstances.  We  have  nothing  to  do  with  circum- 
stances but  to  shape  them  to  our  purposes,  and  to  turn  them,  by 
the  grace  of  God,  to  the  glory  of  his  name.  In  matters  non- 
essential, if  you  are  in  Rome,  do  as  Rome  does ;  if  you  are  in 
Constantinople,  do  as  the  Turk  does;  if  you  are  in  London,  do 
as  the  Englishman  does :  but  "hold  fast"  in  Rome,  "hold  fast" 
in  Constantinople,  "  hold  fast"  in  London,  this  essential,  vital, 
precious  Gospel  j  let  the  men  of  these  cities  cherish  what  they 
believe  to  be  their  duty,  or  love  what  is  their  preference ;  but 
wherever  you  are — under  whatever  circumstances  you  are — in- 
whatever  trials  you  are,  "  hold  fast"  these  truths.  Let  the  world 
come  to  you  if  it  will,  and  you  pray  that  it  may  do  so ;  but  do 
not  you  go  to  the  world,  do  not  give  up,  or  let  go  your  convic- 
tions in  order  to  propitiate  the  world.  And  if  we  thus  hold  fast, 
when  Christ  comes  he  will  give  us  a  crown  of  glory ;  and  not 
to  us  only,  but  also  to  all  them  that  love  his  appearing. 

"  That  no  man  take  thy  crown."  The  word  is  not  SidSrujux,  im- 
perial, but  ffti(jxM'05,  the  laurel  crown,  made  of  bay  leaves  or  pars- 
ley, which  was  given  to  the  Olympian  wrestler  who  had  gained 
the  victory,  or  to  a  racer  who  had  first  reached  the  goal ;  and  the 
meaning  is,  that  this  Church  had  the  crown,  if  not  around  her 
brows — for  this  is  her  militant  state — at  least  in  the  earnest,  the 
foretaste,  and  the  certainty  of  it ;  for  it  is  faith  that  makes  things 
that  are  not  to  be  as  though  they  were,  and  that  makes  things 
that  are  hoped  for  to  be  as  things  that  are  actually  had  :  and  this 
Church  was  therefore  taught  to  believe  that  she  was  as  sure  of 
that  crown,  if  she  held  fast,  as  if  it  were  actually  wreathed  about 
her  brow.  Now,  says  our  Lord,  "  Hold  it  fast,"  that  sin  may  not 
blast  it  by  its  poison — that  Satan  may  not  wither  it  by  his  touch 
— that  no  foe  may  be  able  to  unwreath  it,  and  to  take  it  from  thy 
brow.  Hold  fast  your  dignity  as  a  king,  your  glory  as  a  priest, 
your  relationship  as  a  son ;  "  for  now  are  we  the  sons  of  God." 
Part  not  with  your  glorious  investiture ;  part  with  your  coat,  and 
let  him  who  takes  it  have  thy  cloak  also,  but  part  not  with  that 
hope  of  glory  which  the  world  cannot  give,  but  which  the  world 
often  watches  to  take  away.  *'  Hold  fast  that  which  thou  hast, 
that  no  man  take  thy  crown." 


./  TfTlJ "'■  *  '"«»*  ^0  B'3r  r.}  ^ 


r 


LECTURE  XXVL 


GLORIOUS     PROMISES. 

"Behold,  I  will  make  them  of  the  synagogue  of  Satan,  which  say  they  are 
Jews,  and  are  not,  but  do  lie;  behold,  I  will  make  them  to  come  and  worship 
before  thy  feet,  and  to  know  that  I  have  loved  thee.  Because  thou  hast  kept 
the  word  of  my  patience,  I  also  wUl  keep  theo  from  the  hour  of  temptation, 
which  shall  come  upon  all  the  world,  to  try  them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth. . . . 
Him  that  overcometh  will  I  make  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  my  God,  and  ho 
shall  go  no  more  out :  and  I  will  write  upon  him  the  name  of  my  God,  and 
the  name  of  the  city  of  my  God,  which  is  new  Jerusalem,  which  cometh  down 
out  of  heaven  from  my  God  :  and  I  will  write,  upon  him  my  new  name.  He 
that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  Churches." — Ret. 
Hi.  9,  10, 12,  13. 

'i  There  are  two  classes  that  are  here  specified,  the  one,  to  all 
appearances,  the  fac-simile  of  the  other ;  so  that  the  outward  eye 
cannot  distinguish  them — those  who  are  Jews,  i.  e.  Christians  in 
deed,  and  those  \^o  are  Christians  in  semblance  only  and  in  form. 
Both  have  the  outward  aspect  —  one  only  has  the  inward  power 
of  the  Gospel.  One  seems  to  be  a  Christian,  the  other  is  a  Chris- 
tian. The  one  is  a  hypocrite,  having  the  outward  form,  but  des- 
titute of  the  inward  life ;  the  other  has  the  inward  life  developed 
in  the  outward  form,  and  showing  itself  in  "  whatsoever  things 
are  pure,  and  just,  and  lovely,  and  of  good  report."  The  one  is 
the  fruit  that  grows  and  ripens  to  maturity ;  the  other  is  the  pic- 
ture of  it  which  remains  as  it  is  for  ever :  the  one  is  the  painted 
"bird,  which  ceases  to  look  like  the  goldfinch  when  the  shower 
falls  upon  it ;  the  other  is  the  living  bird,  which  grows  in  beauty 
and  in  plumage  as  it  grows  in  years,  and  is  the  same  in  the  sun- 
shine and  in  the  storm.  The  one  is  the  Jew  outwardly — "  And 
he  is  not  a  Jew,"  the  apostle  tells  us,  "  who  is  one  outwardly  j 

35  (409) 


410  THE  CHURCH  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

but  he  is  a  Jew  who  is  one  inwardly,"  whose  is  the  life  as  well 
as  the  power  of  real  religion.  This  teaches  us  that  there  is  a 
distinction  between  outward  and  true  Christianity.  It  is  possible 
to  be  baptized  in  the  most  canonical  form,  and  like  the  Prince 
of  Wales,  to  be  sprinkled  with  water  from  the  most  consecrated 
of  rivers,  and  yet  like  many  not  to  be  a  Christian.  It  is  possible 
to  belong  to  the  most  venerated  communion  in  Christendom — to 
be  able  to  trace,  or  fancy  that  we  are  able  to  trace  the  succession 
of  its  ministers  through  apostolic  times  and  ages  and  countries, 
and  yet  not  to  be  a  Christian.  It  is  possible  to  be  the  severest 
dissenter  or  the  highest  Churchman,  and  in  neither  case  to  be 
"  a  Jew  inwardly,  whose  praise  is  not  of  men,  but  of  God." 

Such  seems  to  me  to  be  the  idea  stated  in  this  verse.  "  They 
that  say  they  are  Jews,"  or  assume  to  be  Christians,  "  and  are 
not."  At  the  same  time,  I  may  notice  that  some  commentators 
think  that  the  allusion  is  to  the  Jews  nationally.  If  so,  it  holds 
equally  true.  I  do  not  believe  that  there  is  such  a  thing  in  Chris- 
tendom as  a  thorough  Jew.  They  "  say  they  are  Jews ;"  and 
according  to  the  flesh  it  is  their  lineage.  According  to  prophecy 
it  is  their  doom  and  destiny  to  be  so  :  but  no  man  can  remain  one 
day  solemnly  and  seriously  a  Jew,  without  the  next  day  taking  the 
step  that  necessarily  follows,  and  becoming  a  Christian.  You  never 
meet  with  an  honest  Jew,  who  does  not  in  the  end  become  an 
earnest  Christian.  Moses  so  directly  leads  to  Jesus — the  type  so 
plainly  points  to  the  antitype  —  prophecy  in  tl^e  Old  Testament 
points  so  plainly  to  performance  in  the  New,  that  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments,  like  the  twin  lips  of  an  ancient  oracle,  utter  but 
one  voice,  and  that  voice  the  olden,  the  beautiful,  the  glorious  one, 
"  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the 
world."  "  Now,"  says  our  Lord  to  this  Church,  "  those  who  are 
mere  pretenders — those  who  say  they  are  Jews  and  are  not,  shall 
be  made  to  come  and  worship,"  not  thy  foot,  but  "  before  thy 
foot;"  i.e.,  those  who  have  the  form  and  appearance  of  Chris- 
tianity only,  will  yet  be  made  to  see  the  excellency  and  the 
beauty  of  the  reality;  and  bitterly,  perhaps  hopelessly,  regret 
that  they  had  it  not.  For  what  is  implied  in  having  the  form  of 
Christianity?  certainly  the  under-lying  impression  that  Chris- 
tianity IS  a  right  thing  —  a  beautiful  thing  —  a  valuable  thing : 


GLORIOUS  PROMISES.  411 

hypocrisy  has  been  defined,  "the  homage  that  vice  pays  to 
virtue."  Hypocrisy  means  " wearing  a  mask;"  to  assume  the 
mask  of  a  king  in  order  to  commend  yourself  to  others,  implies 
that  you  value  the  dignity  and  the  honour  of  a  king,  and  would 
have  it  if  you  could :  so,  to  have  the  form  of  religion,  implies 
your  acquiescence  in  the  value  of  that  religion ;  and  so  far  it  is 
the  homage  that  the  natural  man  pays  to  the  child  of  God. 
"  Now,"  says  our  Lord,  "  the  day  comes  when  those  who  have 
only  the  form  shall  not  only  feel  its  emptiness,  but  shall,  in  the 
presence  of  those  who  have  the  reality,  worship  that  God  whose 
word  they  have  despised,  and  the  form  only  of  whose  worship 
they  have  put  on  for  their  own  convenient  purposes." 

We  have  an  illustration  of  this  in  the  case  of  Joseph's  brethren, 
who,  when  they  saw  that  their  father  was  dead,  said,  "  Joseph 
will  peradventure  hate  us,  and  will  certainly  requite  us  all  the 
evil  that  we  did  unto  him.  And  they  sent  a  messenger  unto 
Joseph,  saying.  Thy  father  did  command  before  he  died,  saying. 
So  shall  ye  say  unto  Joseph,  Forgive,  I  pray  thee  now,  the  tres- 
pass of  thy  brethren,  and  their  sin ;  for  they  did  unto  thee  evil : 
and  now,  we  pray  thee,  forgive  the  trespass  of  the  servants  of 
the  God  of  thy  father.  And  Joseph  wept  when  they  spake  unto 
him.  And  his  brethren  also  went  and  fell  down  before  his  face; 
and  said.  Behold,  we  be  thy  servants."  They  were  thus  made 
to  come  and  worship  before  him,  and  to  acknowledge  that  God 
whose  commandments  they  had  broken,  and  whose  law  they  had 
disobeyed.  And  so  it  is  predicted  very  beautifully  in  Isaiah  con- 
cerning the  Jews  : — "  Thou  shalt  suck  the  milk  of  the  Gentiles, 
and  thou  shalt  know  that  I  the  Lord  am  thy  Saviour  and  thy 
Redeemer,  the  Mighty  One  of  Jacob. 

"  The  sons  also  of  them  that  afflicted  thee  shall  come  bending 
unto  thee ;  and  they  also  that  despised  thee  shall  bow  themselves 
down  at  the  soles  of  thy  feet ;  and  they  shall  call  thee,  The  city 
of  the  Lord,  The  Zion  of  Holy  One  of  Israel. 

"  Whereas  thou  hast  been  forsaken  and  hated,  so  that  no  man 
went  through  thee,  thou  shalt  be  called  an  eternal  excellency,  a 
joy  of  many  generations." — Such  are  passages  illustrative  of  this 
prediction,  that  those  who  hated  the  people  of  God,  or  who  as- 
sumed the  form  of  their  religion  for  their  own  expedient  pur- 


412  THE  CHFRCH  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

poses,  shall  be  made  to  acknowledge  the  sin  of  which  they  had 
been  guilty,  and  to  admit  the  excellency  and  the  wisdom  of  those 
who  have  the  life  as  well  as  the  form  of  real  religion. 

Then  adds  our  blessed  Lord,  *'  Behold,  I  come  quickly."  If 
this  was  true  eighteen  centuries  ago,  it  is  surely  more  so  now  that 
eighteen  centuries  have  rolled  away.  All  the  judgments  that 
come  are  the  harbingers  of  his  approach.  Those  voices  and  cries 
that  are  sounding  through  the  nations  of  Europe  are  indications 
of  his  advent.  All  things  are  preparing  the  way  for  him.  The 
voice  that  sounds  in  every  ear,  and  comes  home  to  every  heart 
with  greater  emphasis  at  the  present  day  than  ever  is,  "  Behold, 
I  come  quickly;"  and  it  is  the  Church  that  cries  in  dutiful  and 
grateful  response,  "Even  so,  come.  Lord  Jesus."  It  is  very 
remarkable,  that  throughout  the  whole  New  Testament  it  is 
Christ's  coming,  not  our  death,  to  which  we  are  taught  to  look. 
I  think  a  Christian,  when  he  rises  to  the  highest  point  of 
dignity  and  enjoyment,  should  never  think  of  death  at  all. 
We  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  It  is  the  most  humbling,  the 
most  degrading,  the  most  horrible  thing.  It  is  that  to  which  we  are 
not  to  look  forward.  We  are  merely  to  believe  this,  that  we  shall 
have  grace  to  walk  along  that  valley  and  to  cross  that  stream  in 
order  to  meet  him  who  will  either  take  us  to  himself,  or  will  come 
to  us.  Let  us  therefore  anticipate,  not  death,  but  life :  let  us 
look  upon  it  as  the  necessary  suffering  preparatory  to  the  glorious 
enjoyment.  It  is  the  advent  of  the  bridegroom  which  the  bride 
is  taught  to  anticipate :  it  is  the  coming  of  his  Lord  that  a  Chris- 
tian should  hope  for ;  and  as  he  longs  for  it,  and  looks  and  waits 
for  it,  he  longs  for  that  which  shall  be  the  joy  of  his  heart,  and 
not  of  his  only,  but  also  of  many  generations. 

Then  he  adds,  not  only,  "  Behold,  I  come  quickly ;"  but  also, 
"  Behold,  I  will  keep  thee  from  the  hour  of  temptation,  which 
shall  come  upon  all  the  world,  and  try  them  that  dwell  on  the 
earth ;"  implying  that  an  hour  of  temptation  was  to  come,  and 
from  .that  hour  Christ  would  keep  them  that  are  his.  We  all 
have  trials ;  some  personal,  some  domestic,  and  all  of  us  recently 
national  trials.  Here  is  the  promise,  "  I  will  keep  thee  from  it ;" 
either  in  it  that  we  shall  not  be  scathed  by  it,  or  from  it  that  we 
shall  not  be  injured  spiritually  by  it ;  and  if  smitten  down  by  it, 


GLORIOUS  PROMISES.  413 

that  it  shall  only  waft  us  to  the  presence  of  Him  with  whom  there 
is  "  no  more  sickness,  nor  sorrow,  nor  crying."  I  believe  intense 
trials  will  come  —  greater  judgments  are  yet  to  reach  us :  every 
one  should  be  preparing  to  meet  them.  The  sailor  when  he  sees 
in  the  sky  the  cloud  that  indicates  the  coming  storm,  makes  all 
ready  to  ride  it  out ;  and  they  who  have  turned  their  attention  to 
God's  prophetic  word  must  see  that  judgments  are  soon  to  over- 
take the  earth,  so  many  and  so  sore,  that  if  it  were  possible  the 
very  elect  should  be  overwhelmed  by  them.  Let  us  judge  of 
what  we  can  stand,  by  what  we  have  stood.  We  know  the  strength 
of  the  oak  by  the  tempest  it  has  been  able  to  withstand :  we  esti- 
mate the  value  of  the  ship  by  the  storms  she  has  gallantly  passed 
through.  The  pure  gold  parts  with  the  oxide  only  in  the  cruci- 
ble, the  dross  only  is  utterly  consumed ;  the  fire  destroys  only  the 
tinsel :  the  wind  carries  from  the  floor  only  the  chaff:  the  gold 
remains  more  beautiful  in  the  first  —  the  wheat  is  left  behind 
more  pure  in  the  latter. 

Christ  then  says,  that  he  will  keep  us  from  this  hour  of  temp- 
tation, whatever  it  may  be.  How  will  he  keep  us  ?  "  God  is 
faithful,  who  will  not  suffer  you  to  be  tempted  above  what  ye  are 
able  to  bear."  There  is  something  interesting  and  comforting  to 
a  Christian  in  this  thought,  that  when  he  suffers,  he  suffers  not 
alone.  Those  tears  that  the  world  would  laugh  at,  Christ  sympa- 
thises with.  Those  pains  and  losses  which  the  world  will  disre- 
gard, Christ  sympathises  with  and  succours  us  under.  When 
Peter  was  about  to  be  tried,  our  Lord  told  him,  "  Satan  hath  de- 
sired to  have  you,  that  he  may  sift  you  as  wheat ;  but  I  have 
prayed  for  thee,  that  thy  faith  fail  not."  What  comfort  is  there 
in  this  fact !  Satan  never  desires  to  sift  the  chaff.  It  is  not 
worth  his  while  :  it  is  always  the  wheat  that  he  sifts  and  tries  to 
destroy :  and  therefore  that  man  who  is  most  tempted  by  Satan, 
persecuted  by  the  world,  tried  by  affliction,  has  far  the  greatest 
presumptive  evidence  that  he  belongs  to  the  wheat  that  may  be 
sifted,  and  not  to  the  chaff  that  shall  be  consumed  with  unquench- 
able fire.  And  let  us  know,  that  before  Satan  has  begun  to  sift, 
Jesus  has  begun  to  pray.  "  Satan  hath  desired  to  have  you,  that 
he  may  sift  you ;  but  I  have  prayed  for  you,"  not  "  I  will  pray 
for  you."     The  prayer  of  the  High  Priest  precedes  the  ordeal  of 

35* 


414  THE  CHURCH  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

his  suffering  people.  We  are  placed  in  the  furnace :  but  the 
great  Mediator  has  presented  us  before  the  throne  and  pledged 
himself  to  our  safety  and  deliverance.  "  Satan  hath  desired  to 
have  you,  that  he  may  sift  you  as  wheat :"  whether  he  shall  have 
you  or  not  does  not  depend  upon  his  malignity  or  might  or  power, 
but  upon  the  permissive  providence  of  God,  who  sees  what  is 
needed,  and  who  will  permit  or  withhold  the  trial  according  as 
he  sees  best  for  us.  If  there  be  a  needs  be,  then  let  the  trial 
come,  for  it  will  be  sanctified  to  us  :  if  there  be  no  needs  be,  then 
trial  will  not  come,  because  it  is  not  wanted.  Your  trials,  be- 
lievers, will  not  be  too  many,  too  heavy,  too  long,  as  the  devil 
would  like  to  make  them ;  and  they  will  not  be  too  light,  too 
short,  too  few,  as  poor  flesh  and  blood  could  wish  to  make  them  ; 
but  they  will  be  meted  out  by  the  hand  that  was  nailed  to  the 
cross,  superintended  by  Almighty  power,  guided  by  unfailing  wis- 
dom, and  animated  and  inspired  by  that  love  which  has  loved  us 
from  the  first,  and  will  love  us  to  the  last.  "  I  have  prayed  for 
thee,  that  thy  faith  fail  not:"  "I  will  keep  thee  from  the  hour 
of  temptation,  that  shall  come  upon  all  the  world.' 

Some  commentators  think  that  the  hour  of  temptation  thus 
alluded  to,  is  the  ten  years  of  almost  unprecedented  persecution 
to  which  the  Christians  were  subjected  under  the  reign  of  Trajan; 
and  that  the  promise  here  given,  whilst  it  has  the  generic  refer- 
ence which  I  have  endeavored  to  explain,  has  also  a  prior  specific 
Reference  to  the  Church  of  Philadelphia,  to  which  it  is  addressed 
in  the  first  instance,  and  thus  the  promise  of  our  Lord  primarily 
is,  that  he  will  keep  the  Church  of  Philadelphia  unscathed,  its 
ministers  unmartyred,  its  people  undestroyed,  in  the  midst  of 
those  ten  years  of  fiery  persecution,  which  were  to  fall  upon  the 
whole  oixovfuivfi — the  inhabited  world,  or  Roman  empire.  This 
promise  was  literally  and  verbatim  fulfilled.  Philadelphia  was 
the  only  Church  in  the  seven  which  escaped  unscathed  from  the 
persecutions  of  Trajan ;  and  the  reason  which  philosophers 
assigned  and  historians  have  stated  is,  that  Philadelphia  was  sub- 
ject to  earthquakes;  and  the  Roman  emperor,  with  all  his  sangui- 
nary cruelty,  was  afraid  to  go  there  himself,  or  to  trust  his  generals 
and  his  armies  in  a  place  so  dangerous.  No  doubt  this  was  the 
secondary  cause,  which  so  many  modern  philosophers  worship; 


GLOEIOUS  PROMISES.  415 

but  the  true  secret  of  Philadelphia's  safety  was  the  first  great  and 
glorious  cause  that  Christians  trust  in — that  Jesus  had  recorded 
it  as  his  truth,  "  I  will  keep  thee  from  the  hour  of  temptation, 
that  shall  come  upon  all  the  world."  "  I  may  do  it  by  terrifying 
Caesar  by  the  earthquakes  to  which  you  are  subjected ;  I  may  do 
it  by  a  hundred  secondary  causes ;  but  all  these  are  but  instru- 
ments, and  it  is  my  hand  that  wields  them.  They  are  dead,  and 
inefiective,  and  useless,  till  they  hear  my  voice  and  feel  my 
touch. 

The  great  and  chief  Bishop  of  Ml  the  Churches  then  adds  the 
beautiful  promise,  "Him  that  overcometh" — him  that  is  kept 
from  the  hour  of  trial — who  thus  holds  fast  the  strength  that  he 
has — who  thus  keeps  the  crown  that  his  Lord  has  given  him ; 
"  him  will  I  make  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  my  God,  and  he  shall 
go  no  more  out :  and  I  will  write  upon  him  my  new  name,  and 
the  name  of  the  city  of  my  God."  What  is  meant  by  this  pro- 
mise, "  I  will  make  him  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  my  God  ?" 
Is  there  then  a  temple  among  the  blessed  ?  Is  it  not  said  of  the 
millennial  state,  "  I  saw  no  temple  therein  ?"  Then  how  can  this 
promise  be  ever  realized  in  the  believer's  experience,  "I  will 
make  him  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  my  God."  There  is  no  temple 
in  the  coming  kingdom,  in  the  sense  of  a  material  temple  :  no 
spot  will  be  more  consecrated  than  another;  all  places  will  be 
equally  holy,  all  hours  canonical ;  all  voices  shall  be  praise ;  all 
hearts  shall  be  love.  The  tabernacle  was  a  moveable  temple; 
Solomon's  was  a  temporarily  fixed  temple ;  the  apocalyptic  temple 
a  more  glorious  fixture  still,  for  the  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the 
Lamb  are  the  temple  thereof.  Our  Lord  therefore  says,  "  I  will 
make  him  a  pillar,"  not  in  a  material  temple  which  is  doomed  to 
change  or  decay,  but  in  that  living  temple,  composed  of  living 
stones,  the  light  and  the  glory  of  which  are  God  and  the  Lamb. 
We  read  in  the  New  Testament  that  James,  Cephas,  and  John 
"seemed  to  be  pillars."  We  read  again,  in  the  Epistle  to 
Timothy,  "  the  Church,  of  God  which  is  the  ground  and  pillar  of 
the  faith."  The  word  "  pillar,"  both  in  the  Hebrew  and  Greek 
languages,  seems  to  be  the  root  word  of  the  greatest  power  and 
dignity.  For  instance,  the  Hebrew  word  "  adonai,"  which  we 
translate  "  Lord,"  or  "  master,"  is  derived  from  the  word  ^^adon," 


416  THE  CHURCH  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

which  means  a  "  pillar ;"  and  the  word  ^Otvg,  the  Grreek  word 
for  a  "  king,"  is  derived  from  ^tg,  a  ''  foundation,"  or  "  pillar," 
and  Xoof,  "  the  people."  And  when  Christ  says,  "  I  will  make  him 
a  pillar  in  the  temple  of  my  God,"  it  means,  "  I  will  raise  him  to 
dignity  and  honour."  Pillars  were  used  as  supports  in  a  temple 
or  a  palace,  and  they  were  also  used  as  monuments  on  which  were 
written  inscriptions  commemorative  of  great  events  or  illustrious 
worth ;  and  in  ancient  temples  pillars  were  often  erected  as  votive 
offerings,  and  bore  the  names  of  the  offerer  —  with  his  titles,  his 
family,  his  country,  and  the  defeds  by  which  he  was  distinguished, 
and  the  mercies  for  which  he  was  thankful,  inscribed  upon  it. 
Now,  says  our  Lord,  "  I  will  make  him  a  pillar  in  the  temple  of 
my  God :  and  I  will  write  upon  him  my  new  name :"  he  shall  be 
a  monument  of  my  praise ;  and  all  men  that  behold  him  raised 
in  that  glorious  temple  shall  read  there  the  grace  that  selected 
him,  and  see  the  glory  that  crowned  him,  and  shall  raise  as  they 
behold  it  a  yet  nobler  and  more  earnest  song,  "  unto  him  that 
loved  him  and  washed  him  from  his  sins  in  His  own  blood,  and 
made  him  a  king  and  a  priest  unto  God."  The  pillars  that  sup- 
port the  earth  shall  be  dissolved ;  the  gates  of  Thebes,  the  pyra- 
mids of  Egypt,  the  columns  of  the  Parthenon,  shall  all  moulder 
and  decay;  but  those  pillars  that  Christ  is  building  and  erecting 
through  successive  years  to  be  the  corridors  of  the  temple  of  our 
God,  shall  borrow  immortality  from  decay,  splendour  from  sur- 
rounding darkness;  and  when  centuries  of  millennia  have  rolled 
their  career,  they  shall  only  shine  more  beautifully  in  the  lustre 
and  the  light  of  that  grace  which  placed  them  there — ^monuments 
and  pillars  in  the  temple  of  our  God. 

"  And  thence,"  our  Lord  adds,  "  he  shall  no  more  go  out." 
This  is  an  allusion  to  the  Jewish  custom  of  the  priests  and  Levites 
succeeding  each  other  in  courses.  One  course  of  priests  minis- 
tered by  day,  and  another  course  ministered  by  night.  But  in 
this  temple,  he  says,  "Ye  shall  no  more  go  out;"  or,  as  it  is  ex- 
plained in  another  chapter  of  the  Apocalypse,  "  They  shall  sprve 
him  day  and  night  in  his  temple."  They  shall  hunger  no  more, 
neither  thirst  any  more,  and  he  that  sitteth  on  the  throne  shall 
lead  them."  And  again,  "  They  rest  not  day  nor  night  saying, 
Glorj;  and  honour,  and  blessing  unto  the  Lamb,  and  unto  him 


GLORIOUS  PROMISES.  417 

that  sitteth  upon  the  throne."  This  promise  therefore  implies, 
that  in  the  coming  kingdom  we  shall  never  be  weary  of  the  ser- 
vice of  God.  No  sickness  shall  prostrate  us  —  no  labour  render 
us  conscious  of  fatigue ;  no  lapse  of  time  shall  create  the  least 
sensation  of  weariness ;  our  anthems  shall  never  cease ;  our  joys 
shall  be  unclouded ;  our  worship  shall  be  unsuspended  for  ever 
and  ever.  Adam  and  Eve,  placed  amid  the  glories  of  paradise, 
had  to  go  out  weeping  exiles  to  water  a  desert  world  by  their 
tears.  But  from  that  second  and  more  glorious  paradise,  retrieved 
from  the  wreck  of  sin  and  redeemed  from  the  hands  of  Satan,  we 
shall  no  more  go  out,  but  shall  serve  the  Lord  in  his  temple  day 
and  night  without  ceasing,  and  he  shall  dwell  among  us  and  lead 
us  to  green  pastures  apd  to  living  waters,  and  wipe  away  all  tears 
from  our  eyes. 

Then  our  Lord  adds,  as  another  beautiful  feature  of  this  pro- 
mise, "  I  will  write  upon  him  the  name  of  my  God."  The  sculp- 
tor will  engrave  his  name  upon  the  statue ;  the  architect  will  write 
his  name  upon  the  building;  to  signify  that  they  are  his  property, 
and  that  they  stand  not  to  praise  themselves,  but  to  celebrate  the 
glory  of  the  architect  who  raised  them  and  keeps  them  there. 
If  you  desire  to  know  what  that  name  is  which  shall  be  written 
upon  those  pillars,  and  which  shall  shine  with  imperishable  lustre, 
you  may  read  it  in  the  Book  of  Exodus,  where  God  passed  before 
Moses  and  proclaimed  "  the  name  of  the  Lord,"  the  name  that 
shall  be  written  on  those  pillars :  "  The  Lord,  the  Lord  God, 
merciful  and  gracious,  long-sufFering,  and  abundant  in  goodness 
and  truth,  keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity  and 
transgression  and  sin,  and  that  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty; 
visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children,  and  upon 
the  children's  children,  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation." 
The  revelation  of  this  name  will  be  the  most  glorious  vision  of 
the  millennium;  the  glorifying  of  this  name  will  be  the  most 
delightful  service  of  the  saved ;  the  study  of  this  name  in  the 
light  of  glory  shall  be  the  joy  and  privilege  of  the  redeemed. 

And  "  I  will  write  upon  him,"  also  he  says,  "  the  name  of  the 
city  of  my  God."  Abraham  looked  for  "  a  city  whose  builder 
and  maker  is  God."  "  God,"  it  is  said,  "  hath  prepared  for  them 
a  city."     There  are  two  great  cities  spoken  of  in  the  Apocalypse; 


418  THE  CHURCH  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

the  name  of  the  one  is  Bab} Ion  —  "the  mystery  of  iniquity,  the 
mother  of  harlots,  and  abominations  of  the  earth ;"  and  that  is 
the  name  written  upon  the  forehead  of  him  that  belongs  to  it : 
but  the  other  city  is  "the  heavenly  Jerusalem;"  and  I  need  not 
repeat  that  the  meaning  of  the  word  "  Jerusalem"  is  "  Vision  of 
Peace."  When  Christ  therefore  says,  "I  will  write  upon  him 
the  name  of  the  city  of  my  God,"  it  is  as  if  he  said,  "  I  will  write 
upon  him  the  name  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem  —  the  vision  of 
everlasting  peace ;  I  will  make  it  his  everlasting  home — his  happy 
reward  —  his  eternal  joy,  where  the  citizens  shall  feel  no  more 
sadness,  suflfer  no  more  sickness,  and  be  acquainted  with  no  more 
death." 

And  "  I  will"  also,  says  he,  "  write  upoo  him  my  new  name." 
What  is  Christ's  new  name  ?  You  must  have  noticed,  in  reading 
the  Apocalypse,  that  as  long  as  the  Church  is  in  the  suffering 
state,  Christ's  name  is  always  the  Lamb.  Wherever  we  read  of 
the  Church  under  persecution,  we  find  Christ  represented  as  the 
Lamb :  but  when  we  come  to  the  close  of  the  Revelation,  and 
read  of  his  appearance  a  second  time  in  glory,  when  the  king- 
doms of  this  world  have  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and 
of  his  Christ,  we  then  discover  him  clothed  with  a  white  robe, 
and  on  his  vesture  and  on  his  thigh  a  name  written,  "  King  of 
kings,  and  Lord  of  lords."  Now  when  Christ  says,  "  I  will  write 
upon  the  believer  my  new  name,"  it  means,  "  I  will  write  upon 
him  that  name  which  indicates  universal  victory;  which  proclaims 
the  world  restored  and  retrieved  from  ruin ;  which  declares  that 
the  number  of  my  people  is  gathered  to  their  home,  and  that  all 
the  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  God 
and  of  his  Christ."  This  is  the  new  name  that  the  Lord  will 
write  upon  him.  Those  names  in  which  we  gloried  on  earth  shall 
drop  away  as  worthless.  Those  sounds  which  have  electrified  the 
world  shall  then  be  hushed.  W^e  have  written  upon  our  churches 
the  names  of  Luther,  and  Calvin,  and^Cranmer ;  but  a  day  comes 
when  the  last  echoes  of  those  names  shall  be  spent,  and  it  shall 
be  seen  at  once  that  we  belong  to  none  but  Christ.  Could  those 
saints  look  down  from  glory  and  behold  their  names  inscribed 
where  they  are,  they  would  lament  that  inscriptions  so  unworthy 
should  be  suffered,  either  in  our  hearts  or  in  our  worship,  to 


GLORIOUS  PROMISES.  419 

darken  in  the  least  degree  by  their  shadow  that  name  which  is 
above  every  name,  which  was  pronounced  in  scorn  at  Antioch, 
but  shall  sound  as  the  sweetest  note  in  the  eternal  jubilee,  when 
Christ  and  Christianity  shall  be  all  and  in  all.  It  will  there 
and  then  be  found  that  Christ  begins  and  also  completes  our  sal- 
vation. He  is  the  author  and  the  finisher  of  our  faith — he  is  all 
and  in  all. 

Such  is  the  address  and  promise  made  to  the  Philadelphian 
Church  :  let  us  draw  from  it  these  two  lessons.  First,  there  are 
such  things  as  rewards  promised  to  the  Christian.  God  does  not 
mutilate  man  when  he  deals  with  him  in  the  gospel ;  he  provides 
for  every  power  its  appropriate  stimulus,  and  therefore  we  are  in- 
spired and  directed  upon  earth  by  the  prospect  of  a  future  re- 
ward. He  lays  hold  of  this  peculiarity  of  our  nature,  which 
anticipates  the  future,  and  holds  forth  to  it  the  prospect  of  a 
glorious  reward  when  time  shall  be  no  more.  His  grace  makes 
the  promise  of  the  reward ;  his  grace  bestows  it :  and  it  is  his 
grace  that  helps  us  to  hope  for  it,  and  qualifies  us  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  it.  So  Abraham  "  looked  for  a  city  that  had  founda- 
tions." Moses,  we  are  told,  "had  respect  unto  the  recompense 
of  the  reward;"  and  we  too  may  expect  a  reward.  We  are  saved 
by  grace  alone ;  but  there  shall  be  realized  in  the  future,  degrees 
of  glory,  proportioned  to  the  progress  we  have  made  in  grace 
below.  As  there  are  some  amid  the  realms  of  the  lost,  who 
shall  be  beaten  with  many  stripes,  and  others  who  shall  be  beaten 
with  few  stripes ;  so  those  who  are  in  the  realms  of  the  blessed 
shall  shine  like  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever,  with  varying  lustre, 
one  star  difiering  from  another  star  in  glory;  or,  to  change  the 
metaphor,  each  vessel  full,  but  each  vessel  difiering  in  capacity 
from  another,  according  to  what  it  was  made  in  the  world  below. 

We  may  notice,  that  such  a  hope  of  such  a  reward,  is  the  only 
way  to  extinguish  all  inferior  hopes  and  expectation  of  reward 
below.  No  man  lives  without  an  object  of  hope,  just  as  no  man 
lives  without  an  object  of  trust.  There  is  no  one  in  this  congre- 
gation who  has  not  some  hope  in  the  distance  on  which  his  heart 
is  set;  just  as  there  is  no  man  here  present  who  is  not  either 
trusting  in  an  idol,  or  in  the  true  and  living  God.  God  treats  us 
as  men ;  and  his  process  is,  to  dislodge  the  expectation  of  the 


420  THE  CHURCH  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

earthly  reward  that  hangs  in  the  distant  horizon,  by  filling  its 
place  with  a  glorious  and  heavenly  one,  infinitely  more  worthy 
of  our  ambition.  He  removes  the  idol  which  deceives  him  that 
leans  upon  it  like  a  broken  crutch,  and  substitutes  for  it  the  Rock 
of  ages — the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  We  are  here  taught  how  to  deal 
with  man.  The  way  to  displace  an  inferior  hope,  is  by  bringing 
to  bear  upon  it  a  superior  one.  No  man's  heart  will  submit  to  be 
deprived  of  what  it  has,  until  you  can  show  that  heart  something 
better  and  brighter  to  take  its  place.  It  is  of  no  use  preaching 
to  a  man  not  to  love  money,  (because  he  must  have  something  to 
love,)  unless  you  teach  him  to  substitute  for  it  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  Christ,  possessed  of  a  far  greater  glory,  and  exerting  a 
far  more  attractive  influence.  We  would  not  deprive  you  of  the 
idol  you  adore  without  instantly  bringing  before  you  that  God 
who  alone  is  worthy  of  your  homage  and  your  love.  Christianity 
preaches  not  the  extinction  of  the  light  you  have,  but  only  the 
exchange  of  that  little  light  for  a  brighter  and  a  more  glorious 
one.  We  would  dislodge  the  idol  by  the  living  God  —  the  love 
of  sin  by  the  love  of  holiness  —  the  pursuit  of  riches  that  perish 
in  the  using,  by  the  pursuit  of  the  unsearchajjle  riches  of  Christ. 
He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear  the  joyful  sound  of  a  free 
and  full  salvation  ;  he  that  hath  an  eye  to  see,  let  him  look  unto 
Jesus  and  live ;  he  that  has  a  memory  to  recollect,  let  him  recol- 
lect these  glorious  precepts — these  noble  encouragements ;  he  that 
has  a  heart  to  feel,  that  heart  was  made  to  love  the  Saviour ;  he 
that  has  a  mind  to  investigate,  that  mind  was  made  to  know  and 
to  study  the  Saviour;  he  that  hath  a  soul  to  be  saved,  let  him 
seek  and  rush  without  delay  to  be  saved  by  a  Saviour's  blood ; 
for  unto  men  of  every  age,  country,  clime,  and  language,  the 
words  are  this  night  addressed  — "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 

Philadelphia  is  thus  described  by  recent  travellers. — A  city 
of  Asia  Minor,  one  of  the  seven  Apocalyptic  Churches,  is  sup- 
posed to  have  derived  its  name  from  the  brothers  Attains  Phila- 
delphus,  and  Eumenes,  who  founded  it.  It  is  situated  about 
thirty-five  miles  east  by  south  from  Sardis,  and  stands  in  the  plain 


GLORIOUS  PROMISES.  421 

of  Hormus,  about  midway  between  the  river  of  that  name  and 
the  termination  of  Mount  Tnilous.  Not  long  before  the  date  of 
the  Apocalyptic  Epistle  in  Rev.  iii.  7,  13,  this  city  had  suffered 
so  much  from  earthquakes,  that  it  had  been  in  a  great  measure 
deserted  by  its  inhabitants ;  which  may,  in  some  degree,  account 
for  the  poverty  of  this  Church,  as  described  in  this  epistle. 
Strabo  says,  **  Philadelphia  has  no  walls  that  are  safe,"  (alluding 
to  earthquakes.)  The  inhabitants  resided  mostly  in  the  country, 
and  possessed  fertile  lands.  The  Church  of  Philadelphia  is  com- 
mended for  its  faithfulness,  and  has  made  to  it  a  gracious  promise 
of  Divine  protection,  which  has  been  signally  fulfilled,  as  we  learn 
even  from  infidel  testimony. 

Gibbon  says,  "  Philadelphia  appears  to  have  resisted  the  attacks 
of  the  Turks  in  1312,  with  more  success  than  the  other  cities. 
At  a  distance  from  the  sea,  forgotten  by  the  emperor,  encom- 
passed on  all  sides  by  the  Turks,  her  valiant  citizens  defended 
their  religion  and  freedom  about  fourscore  years,  and  at  length 
capitulated  with  the  proudest  of  the  Ottomans,  (Bajazet,)  1390. 
Among  the  Greek  colonies  and  Churches  of  Asia,  Philadelphia 
is  still  erect  —  a  column  in  a  scene  of  ruins  I"  WJiatever  may  be 
lost  of  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  there  is  still  the  form  of  a  Chris- 
tian Church  in  this  city,  which  is  highly  reverenced  by  the  Mo- 
hammedans, and  called  by  them  Allah  Shehr,  or  the  City  of  God, 
and  is  a  considerable  town  spreading  over  the  slopes  of  three  or 
four  hills.  It  contains  about  1,000  Christians,  chiefly  Greeks, 
most  of  whom  speak  only  the  Turkish  language. 

The  American  missionaries,  Fisk  and  Parsons,  when  they 
visited  the  place  in  1820,  were  informed  by  the  Greek  Arch- 
bishop Gabriel,  that  there  were  five  churches  in  the  town,  besides 
twenty  which  were  either  old  or  small,  and  not  then  in  use.  He 
estimated  the  whole  number  of  houses  at  3,000,  of  which  250 
were  inhabited  by  Greeks,  the  rest  by  Turks.  They  counted  six 
minarets ;  and  one  of  the  present  mosques  was  pointed  out  to 
them  as  the  church  in  which  assembled  the  primitive  Christians 
of  Philadelphia,  to  whom  St.  John  wrote.  The  remains  of  heathen 
antiquity  are  not  numerous. 

Mr.  Arundell  concurs  with  other  travellers,  in  describing  the 

36 


422  THE  CHURCH  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

streets  as  filthy,  and  the  houses  remarkably  mean ;  but  he  was 
much  impressed  by  the  beauty  of  the  country  as  seen  from  the 
hills,  and  observes  that  "  the  view  from  these  elevated  situations 
is  magnificent  in  the  extreme ;  gardens  and  vineyards  lie  at  the 
back  of  the  town ;  and  before  it  is  one  of  the  most  extensive 
and  richest  plains  in  Asia." 

There  are  no  considerable  ruins.  One  of  the  most  remarkable 
is  a  single  column  of  great  antiquity,  whicb  has  evidently  apper- 
tained to  another  structure  than  the  present  church. 


LECTURE  XXVII  * 

POWER  OVER  THE  NATIONS,   AND  THE   MORNING   STAR. 

"And  he  that  overcometh,  and  kecpeth  my  works  unto  the  end,  to  him  will 
I  give  power  over  the  nations  :  and  he  shall  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron ;  as 
the  vessels  of  a  potter  shall  they  be  broken  to  shivers  :  even  as  I  received  of 
my  Father.  And  I  will  give  him  the  morning  star.  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let 
him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches." — Rev.  ii.  26 — 29, 

I  FEEL  the  difficulty  of  expounding  the  words  which  I  have 
read  as  more  especially  the  subject  of  our  meditation  this  even- 
ing. I  have  consulted  various  commentators  —  I  have  studied 
the  grounds  of  their  solutions ;  but  few  of  them  appear  to  me 
satisfactory.  I  will  therefore  endeavour  to  explain  these  words 
less  by  striking  out  any  conjectural  solution  of  my  own,  and 
more  by  parallel  references  to  other  parts  of  the  word  of  God ; 
which,  after  all,  is  the  true  way  of  discovering  the  mind  of  the 
Spirit. 

"  He  that  overcometh,  and  keepeth  my  works  unto  the  end, 
to  him  will  I  give  power  over  the  nations  :  and  he  shall  rule  them 
with  a  rod  of  iron ;  as  the  vessels  of  a  potter  shall  they  be  broken 
to  shivers :  even  as  I  received  of  my  Father.  And  I  will  give 
him  the  morning  star."  I  explained  in  my  remarks  on  the  pre- 
vious epistles  what  is  meant  by  the  expression,  "  he  that  over- 
cometh." It  describes  the  character  of  the  Church  militant,  on 
earth,  "  conquering ;"  hereafter  it  will  be  the  Church  triumphant, 
or  conquest.  Now  is  the  battle  of  life ;  our  enemies  arc  "  prin- 
cipalities and  powers ;"  our  weapons  are  spiritual — faith  and  hope 

*  It  will  be  seen  that  this  Lecture  appears  out  of  its  place.  It  was  omitted 
by  the  Reporter  in  his  notes,  and  overlooked  by  the  Preacher  in  preparing  for 
the  press.  It  is  hoped  that  the  reader  will  pardon  an  error  in  arrangement, 
and  accept  the  Lecture  as  not  unworthy  of  a  place  among  the  rest 

(423) 


424  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

and  truth.  Victory  is -certain.  It  is  not  true  in  earthly  combats 
that  every  soldier  who  fights  shall  win  the  laurels,  or  share  in 
the  victory :  but  it  is  true  in  the  great  battle  of  life,  that  every 
one  who  engages  in  it  in  the  right  name,  and  wields  the  right 
weapons,  shall  not  fail  to  wear  the  laurels,  enjoy  the  victory,  and 
"eat  of  that  hidden  manna,"  and  receive  that  "crown  of  glory 
which  fadeth  not  away." 

"  He  that  overcometh,"  then,  I  have  already  explained,  to  you. 
The  next  distinction  here  given  of  the  member  of  the  true 
Church  is,  that  "  he  keepeth  Christ's  works."  These  are  not  his 
miraculous  works ;  those  we  cannot  keep ;  though  we  know  that 
some  who  have  wrought  miracles  will  appear  before  Christ,  and 
say,  "  Lord,  have  we  not  prophesied  in  thy  name,  and  in  thy 
name  done  many  wonderful  works  ?"  and  he  shall  profess  unto 
them,  "  I  never  knew  you."  It  is  not,  therefore,  he  who  can 
work  miracles,  if  such  there  be,  who  keeps  Christ's  works,  over- 
comes, and  inherits  the  kingdom  prepared  for  the  people  of  God ; 
but  it  is  he  who  keeps  those  works,  so  that  he  brings  forth  the 
fruits  mentioned  by  the  Apostle,  "  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering, 
kindness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  temperance."  They  are 
those  who  are  described  as  the  "  meek ;"  as  "  they  that  mourn ;" 
as  "they  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness;"  as  the 
"merciful;"  the  "poor  in  heart;"  the  "peace-makers;"  the 
"  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake ;"  they  are  those,  in  short, 
who,  having  received  the  seed  on  good  ground,  when  they  have 
heard  the  word  keep  it,  and  bring  forth  fruit  abundantly.  They 
are  the  "just  who  live  by  faith,"  and  who  "draw  not  back  to 
perdition."  The  crown  is  here  mentioned  as  the  reward  of  per- 
sistency in  the  truth,  and  in  the  practical  exemplification  of  it, 
and  not  of  a  momentary  acceptance,  followed,  as  it  not  unfre- 
quently  is,  by  the  speedy  and  total  abandonment  of  it.  It  is 
they  that  persevere  in  the  course  which  they  have  begun,  who  aro 
ultimately  crowned.  Many  commence  with  burning  zeal,  but 
end  in  freezing  coldness.  They  start  with  the  splendour  of  a 
rocket,  and  they  go  out  with  its  evanescence  too.  Their  morning 
is  full  of  promise ;  but  ere  their  sun  has  reached  its  meridian,  it 
is  clouded  and  darkened  and  obscured.  The  promise  is  to  him 
whose  progress  is  like  that  of  the  sun  that  "  shineth  more  and 


POWER  OVER  THE  NATIONS.  425 

more  unto  the  perfect  day."  By  the  persistency  of  your  career 
you  may  judge  of  the  strength  of  the  momentum  under  which  you 
have  begun.  A  human  impulse  will  soon  exhaust  itself;  a  divine 
one  will  not  die  till  the  subject  of  it  is  beyond  the  possibility  of 
change.  They,  then,  that  "  keep  my  works,"  are  they  who  shall 
be  crowned ;  they  who  keep  them  in  their  hearts — in  their  words 
— in  their  lives — in  affliction — in  persecution — "in  all  time  of  their 
wealth  and  prosperity,  in  all  time  of  their  tribulation,  in  the  hour 
of  death,  and  in  the  day  of  judgment,  —  these  are  they  that 
overcome,  and  to  whom  is  given  "  the  bright  and  morning 
star." 

But  the  special  promise  here  made  to  "  him  that  overcometh' 
is,  "  I  will  give  him  power  over  the  nations,  and  he  shall  rule 
them  with  a  rod  of  iron ;  as  the  vessels  of  a  potter  shall  they  be 
broken  to  shivers :  even  as  I  received  of  my  Father."  Perhaps 
the  best  way  to  explain  the  reference  here  is,  to  revert  to  the 
special  error  alluded  to  in  the  former  part  of  the  epistle.  That- 
spiritual  error  is  "  the  teaching  of  that  woman  Jezebel,"  who, 
as  I  explained  to  you,  is  the  great  type  and  personation  of  the 
corrupt  modern  apostasy,  whose  errors'this  Church  was  reproved 
for  not  repudiating.  Now  if  this  refers  to  the  great  modern 
apostasy,  then  the  "  power  over  the  nations,"  which  is  the  promise 
made  to  the  people  of  God,  corresponds  in  name  and  extent,  but 
contrasts  in  kind,  to  the  power  which  that  apostasy  has  exercised 
over  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  We  read  that  the  power 
exercised  by  that  apostasy  has  been  "  making  drunk"  all  nations 
by  her  idolatry,  her  sorceries,  her  persecutions,  and  her  crimes ; 
the  whole  world  has  wondered  after  her ;  nations  have  been  sub- 
ject to  her ;  kings  have  trembled  at  her  summons,  and  the  bright- 
est realms  have  been  darkened  by  the  shadow  of  a  priest's  curse. 
Then,  says  the  Redeemer,  "  I  will  give  to  my  people  power  over 
the  nations,"  as  the  inheritance  of  my  true  Church,  in  contrast 
to  the  tyrannic  power  which  is  the  usurpation  of  the  popedom ! 
It  will  be  Christian,  spiritual,  real  power ;  not  physical,  oppressive, 
tyrannical  power.  "  I  will  give  him  power  over  the  nations"  by 
wielding  weapons  that  are  holy,  and  by  the  exercise  of  a  sceptre 
that  is  pure,  permanent,  divine. 

36* 


426  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

What  is  the  great  axiom  of  modern  philosophy  ?  "  Knowledge 
is  power."  Wherever  there  is  knowledge,  there  is  wielded  an 
element  of  mighty  power.  What  is  the  electric  telegraph  ?  Evi- 
dence that  a  truth  in  science  is  power.  What  is  the  railway?  A 
proof  that  knowledge  is  power.  What  are  all  these  but  develop- 
ments of  a  principle  first  discovered  as  a  great  truth  in  science, 
and  then  matured  and  developed  into  practical  use,  and  so  they 
are  clear  proofs  that  "  knowledge  is  power."  Christian  know- 
ledge rises  to  a  yet  higher  sovereignty — it  is  not  only  power,  but 
it  is  peace  and  happiness  too ;  and  it  is  a  very  interesting  fact 
brought  out  with  consummate  beauty  and  eloquence  by  Mr. 
Trench,  in  the  Hulsean  Lectures,  called  "  Christ  the  Desire  of 
all  Nations,"  that  just  in  proportion  as  nations  have  grown  in 
Christian  knowledge,  and  in  likeness  to  Christ,  in  the  same  propor- 
tion have  they  grown  in  superiority  over  surrounding  lands,  in  vic- 
tory over  all  opposing  forces — and  in  legitimate,  beneficent,  perma- 
nent power  over  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  The  land  whose  queen 
reigns  "  by  the  grace  of  God"  is  the  land  that  rules  the  waves  : 
the  land  that  is  most  distinguished  for  the  purity,  the  spread, 
and  the  depth  of  its  Christianity,  is  that  on  whose  dominions  the 
sun  never  sets ;  and  the  country  that  is  most  illuminated  by  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus,  has  reached  a  height  of  national  grandeur  un- 
paralleled in  the  present,  and  unrivalled  in  the  past ;  and  it  has 
already  been  fulfilled  in  the  history  of  the  nations  of  Christendom, 
that  just  in  the  ratio  in  which  true  Christianity  in  all  its  purity 
spreads  amid  its  people,  does  national  greatness  and  social  and 
popular  prosperity  increase.  The  truest  patriots  and  those  who 
do  most  for  their  country's  good,  are  not  those  who  plead  most 
eloquently  in  the  senate,  or  who  make  the  most  effective  speeches 
on  the  platform  or  the  hustings ;  but  such  unnoticed  subterranean 
labourers,  as  the  missionaries  and  agents  of  the  London  City  Mis- 
sion and  Scripture  Readers'  Society.  These  men,  penetrating 
into  those  courts  which  the  shadow  of  the  policeman  alone  has 
heretofore  darkened  —  entering  those  lanes  and  alleys  to  which 
the  light  of  the  sun  and  the  light  of  Christianity  are  almost 
equally  strangers — and  visiting  those  districts  of  our  great  cities, 
unvisited  by  the  pastor,  because  from  their  number  and  their 
mass  incapable  of  being  so, — are  nipping  the  germs  of  rebellion 


POWER  OVER  THE  NATIONS.  427 

at  their  commencement,  teaching  the  poor  that  the  rich  do  care 
for  them,  and  that  even  if  no  fellow-man  does  care  for  them, 
they  may  find  sympathy  in  the  bosom  of  their  Lord,  and  peace 
and  hope  beyond  the  stars,  which  man  can  neither  give  nor  take 
away. 

This  promise,  then,  of  "  power  over  the  nations  of  the  earth," 
so  far  clearly  teaches  us  that  the  most  Christian  nation  is  the 
most  prosperous.  We  may  predict  that  our  flag  shall  still  wave 
victorious  on  the  seas,  and  our  ships  shall  drop  their  anchors 
upon  the  shores  of  every  country  upon  earth,  just  as  long  as  in 
our  country  we  acknowledge  in  our  feelings,  our  sympathies,  our 
lives,  our  social  acts,  our  laws,  "  righteousness  exalteth  a  nation, 
but  sin  is  the  ruin  of  any  people."  Still  I  admit  that  the  main 
fulfilment  of  this  promise  is  yet  future ;  and  that  it  is  so  is  dis- 
tinctly proved  by  reference  to  passages  in  which  we  find  the  same 
language  used  to  indicate  the  same  fact.  Thus,  in  chap,  xix.,  12, 
15,  16,  we  read,  "  His  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire ;  and  on  his 
head  were  many  crowns ;  and  he  had  a  name  written,  King  of 
kings,  and  Lord  of  lords."  "And  out  of  his  mouth  goeth  a 
sharp  sword,  that  with  it  he  should  smite  the  nations :  and  he 
shall  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron :  and  he  treadeth  the  wine- 
press of  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of  Almighty  God."  And  so  in 
chap.  XX.  4  :  "And  I  saw  thrones,  and  they  sat  upon  them,  and 
judgment  was  given  unto  them." 

There  is  certainly  indicated  in  the  Bible  some  sepse  in  which 
the  people  of  God  shall  join  in  the  last  assize,  and  sit  in  judg- 
ment on  the  nations  of  the  earth.  In  Dan.  vii.  18,  is  an  indi- 
cation of  the  same  truth ;  "  The  saints  of  the  Most  High  shall 
take  the  kingdom,  and  possess  the  kingdom  for  ever."  And 
again,  in  ver.  27  :  "  The  kingdom  and  dominion,  and  the  great- 
ness of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven,  shall  be  given  to 
the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  whose  kingdom  is  an 
everlasting  kingdom,  and  all  nations  shall  serve  and  obey  him." 
Wc  have  the  same  great  truth  intimated  in  language  almost  the 
same  as  that  of  the  passage  on  which  I  am  now  commenting,  in 
Psalm  ii.,  which  is  a  prophecy  of  the  triumph  of  Christ,  where 
the  Father,  speaking  to  the  Son,  says,  "Ask  of  me,  and  I  will 
give  thee  the  heathen  for  thine  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost 


428  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  possession.  And  thou  shalt  bruise 
them  with  a  rod  of  iron ;  and  break  them  in  pieces  like  a  potter's 
vessel."  This  refers  to  an  age  when  the  heathen  shall  be  Christ's 
inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  shall  be  his 
possession.  So  again,  the  Apostle  speaks  of  *'  the  day  of  per- 
dition of  ungodly  men  ;"  which  would  seem  to  be  the  same  day 
as  that  in  which  Christ  shall  with  a  rod  of  iron  break  in  pieces 
the  nations  of  the  earth ;  and  they  who  are  Christ's  people  shall, 
in  some  manner  which  I  cannot  explain,  join  with  Christ  in  the 
judgment  and  the  doom  pronounced  upon  the  unbelieving  nations 
of  the  earth. 

But  perhaps  we  shall  collect  more  light  upon  this  subject  if 
we  refer  to  that  part  of  the  promise  which  is  contained  in  ver.  28 
of  my  text,  namely,  "  I  will  give  unto  him  that  overcometh,  the 
morning  star."  We  find  that  when  this  expression  is  employed 
towards  the  other  Churches  of  Asia,  it  is  associated  in  some 
manner  with  David,  and  with  Christ  the  offspring  of  David. 
Thus,  "  I  am  the  root  and  the  offspring  of  David,  and  the  bright 
and  morning  star."  There  can  be  no  question  that  Christ  is 
that  star :  neither  can  there  be  any  question  that  in  some  sense 
the  star  is  the  symbol  of  Christ  in  Christ's  character  as  the 
antitype  of  David.  Solomon  was  the  type  of  Christ  as  the 
"  Prince  of  Peace :"  David  is  always  spoken  of  as  the  type  of 
Christ,  as  the  conqueror  of  all  enemies,  the  destroyer  of  all  op- 
position. We  find,  too,  the  expression,  "  The  Lion  of  the  tribe 
of  Judah,  the  Root  of  David,"  who  opens  the  seals  and  makes 
known  the  mysteries  of  the  book.  The  first  promise  which  un- 
folds to  us  something  of  the  meaning  of  this  epithet,  "the 
Morning  Star,"  is  in  Numb,  xxiv,  where  we  hear  Balaam  utter- 
ing a  prophecy  in  these  words  :  "  Behold,  there  shall  come  a  Star 
out  of  Jacob,  and  a  Sceptre  shall  arise  out  of  Israel :"  there  is 
"  the  morning  star."  And  then  mark  what  it  is  associated  with  ; 
it  is  associated  with  Christ  in  his  capacity  of  conquering  the 
nations,  and  destroying  all  opposition ;  for  the  seer  proceeds : 
"And  a  Sceptre  shall  arise  out  of  Israel,  and  shall  smite  the 
corners  of  Moab,  and  destroy  all  the  children  of  Sheth.  And 
Edom  shall  be  a  possession,  Seir  also  shall  be  a  possession  for  his 
enemies;  and  Israel  shall  do  valiantly."     You  will  recollect  too, 


POWER  OVER  THE  NATIONS.  429 

that  when  the  wise  men  came  to  Bethlehem,  and  stated,  "  We 
have  seen  his  star  in  the  east,"  what  the  effect  of  that  fact,  and 
of  the  star  which  symbolized  the  advent  of  Christ,  was  upon 
Herod  :  he  was  filled  with  consternation,  believing  that  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  star  indicated  the  advent  of  a  king,  and  that  that 
king  was  come  to  defeat  his  armies,  depose  him  from  his  throne, 
and  introduce  a  new  and  more  glorious  dynasty.  So  that  in  every 
passage  where  this  star  is  spoken  of  as  the  symbol  of  Christ,  we  have 
it  associated  with  conquest,  victory,  and  the  destruction  of  all  oppo- 
sition. If  so,  we  may  then  conclude  that  this  passage  on  which 
I  am  now  commenting,  is  mainly  a  description  of  Christ  as  the 
victorious  king — as  the  antitype  of  David — who  shall  "  rule  all 
nations  with  a  rod  of  iron,  and  break  them  in  pieces  as  a  potter's 
vessel." 

The  next  fact  we  see  in  this  promise  is,  that  the  morning  star, 
and  the  destruction  of  all  the  enemies  of  Christ,  is  associated 
with  the  day  of  the  first  resurrection — the  resurrection  that  pre- 
cedes the  millennial  glory,  and  ushers  in  the  final  and  permanent 
triumph  of  Christ,  and  them  that  are  his.  May  we  all  have  the 
^xofl^xjpos ,  the  morning  or  day-star  in  our  hearts  until  the  millen- 
nial day  dawn,  when  there  shall  be  no  more  need  of  the  sun  nor 
of  the  moon,  but  the  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb  shall 
be  the  light  thereof.  That  there  is  in  these  words  a  reference  to 
the  first  resurrection  will  be  evident  by  looking  at  the  following 
passages  ;  first  in  Psalm  xlix. — "  Like  sheep  they  are  laid  in  the 
grave ;  death  shall  feed  on  them ;  and  the  upright  shall  have 
dominion  over  them  in  the  morning."  So  again,  in  Psalm  ex. 
there  is  another  prophecy  equally  expressive  :  "  Thy  people  shall 
be  willing  in  the  day  of  thy  power,  in  the  beauties  of  holiness 
from  the  womb  of  the  morning :  thou  hast  the  dew  of  thy  youth." 
What  is  the  signification  of  this  ?  That  as  the  dew  sparkles  in 
the  beams  of  the  rising  sun,  so  shall  the  earth,  after  the  trumpet 
shall  sound,  be  covered  with  saints  in  their  resurrection  glory, 
beautiful  and  countless  as  the  dew-drops  upon  the  blades  of  grass, 
or  upon  the  rose-leaf,  when  the  morning  sun  begins  to  shine  on 
them. 

In  Psalm  xlvi.  we  find  an  allusion  to  the  same  subject ;  "  God 
is  in  the  midst  of  her ;  she  shall  not  be  moved  :  God  shall  help 


430  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIKA. 

her,  and  that  right  early,"  as  it  stands  in  our  translation ;  but  in 
the  original  it  is  literally  translated,  "  God  shall  help  her  when 
the  morning  appears;"  i.  e.  when  the  morning  star  shall  shine; 
and,  you  may  perceive  that  this  is  is  a  Psalm  of  battle  and  vic- 
tory ;  for  it  is  when  this  glorious  morning  has  dawned  —  when 
Christ  has  destroyed  all  his  enemies — when  his  own  people  shall 
sit  with  him  in  the  last  assize,  sympathising  with  him,  and  re- 
joicing with  him  in  his  victories,  that  they  shall  say  to  each 
other,  "  Come,  behold  the  works  of  the  Lord,  what  desolations 
he  hath  made  in  the  earth."  "The  Lord  of  Hosts  is  with  us; 
the  God  of  Jacob  is  our  refuge."  Again,  in  Isaiah  xxvi.  19,  we 
have  these  words :  "  Thy  dead  men  shall  live ;  together  with  my 
dead  body  shall  they  arise.  Awake  and  sing,  ye  that  dwell  in 
the  dust;"  (these  are  the  pious  dead,  when  they  hear  the  trumpet 
of  the  first  resurrection  ;)  "  for  thy  dew,"  i.  e.  "  in  the  morning," 
for  it  is  then  that  the  dew  appears — "  for  thy  dew  is  as  the  dew 
of  herbs,  and  the  earth  shall  cast  out  the  dead." 

At  that  day  when  these  judgments  take  place,  and  when  God's 
people  shall  appear  in  resurrection,  splendour,  and  inagnificence, 
the  voice  of  the  Son  of  man  shall  rouse  the  sleeping  dead,  and 
the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first ;  then  these  risen  and  glorified 
ones  shall  beautify  the  earth  over  all  its  surface  as  the  dew-drops 
beautify  the  grass  when  the  morning  sun  begins  to  shine  forth. 
They  who  are  thus  raised  shall  join  with  Christ,  seated  on  his 
throne,  when  the  millennial  day  shall  close,  and  with  him  ac- 
quiesce in  the  condemnation  of  the  guilty,  and  with  him  rejoice 
in  the  salvation  of  the  saved.  At  that  day  all  our  sympathies 
shall  be  merged  in  one ;  all  our  afiections  shall  be  lost  in  one ; 
we  shall  mourn  over  none  that  are  missing;  we  shall  not  fail  to 
rejoice  over  every  one  that  is  saved  and  numbered  among  the 
followers  of  the  Lamb.  Our  mind  shall  be  so  completely 
Christ's  mind — our  sympathies  shall  be  so  completely  the  reper 
cussions-  or  the  echoes  of  his,  that  what  he  does,  we  shall  rejoice 
to  sec;  and  to  what  he  pronounces,  we  shall  rejoice  to  add. 
Amen ;  and  he  shall  be  all  and  in  all.  Thus  feeling  so  complete- 
ly as  he  feels,  according  to  his  own  promise,  we  shall  sit  upon 
twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel. 

This,  then,  appears  to  me  to  be  the  meaning  of  a  passage  of 


POWER  OVER  THE  NATIONS.  4S1 

Scripture,  confessedly  difficult,  and  yet  so  completely  in  harmony 
with  other  portions  of  the  word  of  God,  that  I  cannot  explain  it 
away  by  supposing  that  all  its  spiritual  meaning  is  exhausted  in 
the  present  dispensation  :  I  must  regard  it  as  mainly  a  prophetic 
fact  to  be  fulfilled,  embodied,  and  illustrated  in  the  dispensation 
to  come. 

I  now  close  my  remarks  upon  another  address  to  another  of 
the  Seven  Churches  of  Asia,  l^u  must  have  noticed  that  all 
the  promises  which  have  been  given  are  promises  of  Christ  him- 
self. Are  you  placed  in  deep  despondency?  Christ  will  give 
you  "  the  white  stone"  of  cordial  acceptance  before  him.  Are 
you  placed  amid  famine  —  spiritual  famine,  the  most  terrible  of 
all  ?  He  will  feed  you  with  "  hidden  manna."  Are  you  plunged 
in  the  shades  of  the  darkest  night  ?  He  tells  you  that  he  will 
give  you  "  the  morning  star."  And  what  a  blessed  epoch  will  that 
be  which  is  here  predicted !  Why  should  we  fear  its  advent  ? 
How  should  we  long  for  that  hour  when  we  shall  "see  the  King 
in  his  beauty" — when  Job's  beautiful  prediction  shall  become 
performance,  "I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  and  that  he 
shall  stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the  earth,  whom  I  shall  see  for 
myself,  and  mine  eyes  shall  behold,  and  not  another  I"  How 
should  we  long  for  that  day  when  this  shall  be  fulfilled,  "  It  doth 
not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be ;  but  we  know  that  we  shall  be 
like  him,  for  we  shall  sec  him  as  he  is !"  How  should  we  pant 
for  that  blessed  day  when  we  shall  no  more  "  see  through  a  glass 
darkly,"  but  "  face  to  face  !" 

This  promise  is  given  to  the  conqueror  —  to  him  that  keeps 
Christ's  word.  Yet  it  is  not  said,  "  I  will  give  as  a  reward,"  or 
"I  will  bestow  as  a  purchase;"  but  grace  sounds  as  clearly  in  the 
promise,  as  it  does  in  the  doctrines  and  privileges  of  Christianity, 
"  I  will  ^it'e  him  the  bright  and  the  morning  star."  We  need 
not  climb  alp  upon  alp  to  reach  it ;  we  need  not  wings  to  enable 
us  to  fly  to  it :  ask,  and  you  shall  obtain  all  that  you  seek.  God's 
word  is  the  telescope;  Christ  is  the  star;  and  he  that  looks  the 
longest  shall  see  the  most  clearly  and  rejoice  most  heartily,  till 
that  day  comes  which  is  the  eloquence  of  a  thousand  prophecies, 
the  burden  of  a  thousand  songs. 

Such  is  the  promise  to  the  Church  of  Thyatira.     Let  me  ask 


432  THE  CHURCH  OF  THYATIRA. 

you  now,  my  dear  friends,  are  you  among  the  people  of  the  Lord  ? 
is  the  morning  star  your  trust,  your  hope,  your  glory  ?  Are  you 
Christians  ?  Are  you  born  again  ?  Are  you  justified  ?  Were 
the  heavens  to  rend  —  were  the  earth  to  quake  —  and  were  the 
peal  of  the  last  trump  to  reverberate  through  the  graves  of  the 
dead,  and  the  homes  of  the  living;  or  were  you  called  upon  this 
night  to  lay  aside  this  old  tabernacle,  and  to  appear  at  that 
judgment-seat  whose  sentence  cannot  be  reversed,  and  from 
whose  doom  there  can  be  no  appeal  —  are  you  ready  ?  What 
would  be  your  position  there  and  then  ?  Could  we  say,  "  Blessed 
Lord,  thou  art  my  hope,  thou  art  my  shield,  thou  art  my  right- 
eousness, ray  Lord,  my  all !  If  thou  wort  to  deal  with  me  after 
my  deserts,  I  could  look  for  nothing  less  than  everlasting  banish- 
ment from  thee.  If  thou  shouldest  deal  with  me  as  thou  hast 
promised,  thy  righteousness  shall  be  my  title,  thy  blood  my  sacri- 
fice. Then,  blessed  Lord,  I  know  that  thou  who  art  my  judge, 
art  also  my  friend,  and  in  the  New  Jerusalem,  and  on  the  judg- 
ment-seat, I  shall  alike  see  thee."  Why  should  this  great  subject 
be  left  in  doubt  a  single  moment  ?  Why  should  we  leave  this 
question  unresolved,  unsettled, — whether  we  are  going  to  ever- 
lasting perdition  or  to  everlasting  happiness  ?  If  there  were  a 
neutral  place,  you  might  so  leave  it :  if  there  were  some  interme- 
diate isthmus,  neither  wasted  by  the  streams  of  time  nor  washed 
by  the  waves  of  eternity,  on  which  you  could  stand  and  treat  the 
past  with  indifference  and  the  future  with  contempt,  then  you 
might  now  care  nothing  about  these  things.  But  if  it  be  true 
that  every  man  in  this  assembly  must  live  for  ever  amid  the  efful- 
gence of  eternal  joy,  or  pine  forever  in  the  miseries  of  an  eternal 
hell,  is  it  common  sense  to  leave  such  a  question  untried  —  such 
a  destiny  unsettled  ?  My  dear  friends,  be  decided.  The  man 
who  can  go  home  this  night,  and  in  the  silence  and  secresy  of  his 
closet  can  thus  speak  to  Christ :  "  My  Lord,  my  Saviour,  my  sins 
are  a  load  that  might  and  must  sink  me  to  the  depths  of  hell,  but 
thou  hast  died  for  the  chiefest  of  sinners,  and  for  me  who  flee  to 
thee ;  this  night  it  is  my  prayer  that  thy  blood  may  wash  me  — 
that  thy  righteousness  may  cover  me,  and  thy  Spirit  sanctify  me  : 
and  I  know  that  if  I  so  trust  I  shall  never  be  confounded  ;" — the 
man  who  can  say  so  from  the  depths  of  his  heart  has  begun  the 


POWER  OVER  THE  NATIONS.  433 

new  course,  is  justified  by  faith,  and  will  have  peace  with  God 
through  Jesus  Christ  —  to  whom  be  all  the  glory  both  now  and 
for  ever.    Amen.  i 


"  Life  is  real — life  is  earnest. 

And  the  grave  is  not  its  goal : 

'  Dust  thou  art,  to  dust  returnest,' 

Was  not  spoken  of  the  soul. 

"Not  enjoyment,  and  not  sorrow, 
Is  pur  destined  end  and  way ; 
But  to  act  that  each  to-morrow 
Find  us  farther  than  to-day. 

"Let  us  then  be  up  and  doing, 
With  a  heart  for  any  fate; 
Still  achieving,  still  pursuing, 
Learn  to  labour  and  to  wait." 


S7 


LECTURE  XXVni. 

ENTHUSIASM. 

"And  unto  the  angel  of  the  Church  of  the  Laodiceans  write;  These  things 
saith  the  Amen,  the  faithful  and  true  witness,  the  beginning  of  the  creation  of 
God ;  I  know  thy  works,  that  thou  art  neither  cold  nor  hot :  I  would  thou  wert 
cold  or  hot.  So  then  because  thou  art  lukewarm,  and  neither  cold  nor  hot,  I 
will  spue  thee  out  of  my  month." — Rev.  iiL  14 — 16. 

This  Church  is  the  last  and  least  praised  of  the  seven ;  to  it 
special  rebukes  are  addressed,  one  of  which  is  couched  in  the 
words  which  I  have  now  read.  Our  blessed  Lord  introduces  him- 
self under  one  of  those  august  characteristics  by  which  he  is  de- 
scribed in  the  opening  part  of  the  book  :  he  declares  himself  to 
be  *'  the  Amen/'  i.  e.  the  commencement  and  the  close  of  crea- 
tion, providence,  redemption,  to  whose  glories  creation,  providence, 
redemption  shall  all  contribute.  The  "Amen"  is  the  truth  and 
the  substance  of  every  promise — the  performance  and  the  burden 
of  every  prophecy,  —  in  whom  revelation  is  seen  complete,  and 
creation  shall  be  seen  restored  —  in  whom  man  shall  receive  his 
greatest  happiness  and  God  his  everlasting  glory.  He  is  not  only 
the  **  Amen,"  but  he  is  also  "  the  Witness."  This  epithet  is 
applied  to  Christ  by  God  through  the  lips,  or  rather  the  pen,  of 
the  prophet  Isaiah ;  "  I  have  given  him  for  a  witness  to  the  peo- 
ple :"  as  a  witness  he  has  a  testimony.  To  what  does  Christ 
witness  ?  The  testimony  of  a  witness  is  the  chief  ground  on 
which  the  decision  of  a  judge  is  based  and  the  information  of 
men  is  obtained.  The  testimony  therefore  of  such  a  witness  as 
Christ  must  be  to  us  of  unspeakable  value.  On  it  our  duties  and 
privileges  and  hopes  of  everlasting  happiness  and  glory ^o  and 
must  depend.     He  is  a  witness  to  what  man  is  by  nature.     He 

434 


ENTHUSIASM.  4Sft 

t 

knows  what  is  in  man ;  what  his  history,  his  deterioration,  and 
his  true  relation  are.  It  is  the  testimony  of  this  witness  who 
cannot  lie,  that  man  by  nature  is  "without  God  and  without 
hope  in  the  world;"  " desperately"  —  that  is,  by  human  power 
incurably — ''depraved;"  "dead  in  trespasses  and  sins."  He  is 
the  witness  too  of  what  God  is  by  grace.  "  God  is  love ;"  God 
is ^* our  Father."  Again,  "No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time; 
the  only  begotten  Son  he  hath  declared  him."  And  he  is  also  a 
witness  to  the  method  by  which  God  can  be  glorified  in  the  sal- 
vation of  sinners  such  as  we  are.  He  has  set  forth  a  great  pro- 
position which  all  the  wise  men  of  the  east  and  philosophers  of 
the  west  failed  to  discover  or  demonstrate, — how  God  can  remain 
holy,  just,  and  true,  and  yet  let  forth  the  expression  of  his  mercy, 
the  seal  of  forgiveness,  the  manifestation  of  his  love  in  the  for- 
giveness of  those  who  have  been  born  in  apostasy  from  him,  and 
lived  in  hourly  rebellion  against  him.  Blessed  and  glorious  truth, 
that  God  may  justify  me  and  yet  be  just !  nay  more,  that  when 
God  bows  the  heaven  to  blot  out  the  sins  of  the  greatest  sinner, 
he  covers  himself  with  richer  glory  than  when  he  stood  upon  the 
circuit  of  the  skies  and  said,  "  Let  there  be  light,"  and  there  was 
light.  His  judicial  acquittal  of  sinners  gives  him  greater  glory 
than  his  creative  birth  of  worlds.  God  received  glory  when  he 
created  the  universe,  and  the  morning  stars  sang  his  praise  beside 
it ;  God  receives  glory  when  he  sustains,  maintains,  and  corrects 
it :  but  he  never  seemed  to  angels  and  to  the  intelligent  universe 
more  glorious  than  when  he  stooped  to  the  manger  and  hung 
upon  the  cross,  and  amid  the  proofs  of  the  sufferer  emitted  evi- 
dence of  the  present  God  as  he  whispered  to  the  dying  criminal 
the  blessed  accents,  "  To-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise." 
My  dear  hearers,  in  pleading  with  God — and  I  wish  all  to  per- 
ceive and  feel  the  full  force  of  this  —  we  may  say  to  him,  "O 
Lord,  be  merciful  to  forgive  me  I"  This  is  a  great  deal ;  but  we 
may  go  further;  we  may  say,  "0  God,  manifest  thy  justice,  thy 
faithfulness,  thy  truth  in  forgiving  me."  This  is  much  —  but 
further,  we  may  say  to  God,  "  Glorify  thy  name  in  the  forgiveness 
of  my  transgressions."  If  we  are  not  forgiven  men,  it  is  not 
because  God's  love  has  become  cold,  or  his  ear  has  become  heavy, 
or  his  mercy  has  been  exhausted  j  but  because  we  do  not  with 


436  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

child-like  simplicity  believe  him,  thinking  these  news  too  good 
to  be  true,  or  our  case  too  desperate  to  be  cured,  so  that  we  may 
not  therefore  venture  to  look  and  live.  It  may  be  that  others 
think  the  world  is  our  proper  prize,  and  that  it  alone  we  are  to 
seek  after,  or  that  we  may  hear  and  speak  and  think  of  these 
things  at  another  and  a  more  convenient  season ;  but  very  gene- 
rally, a  latent  suspicion  or  doubt  of  the  reality  of  these  things'  is 
our  besetting  state.  He  is  a  witness  also  to  the  responsibilities 
of  man ;  to  the  glories  of  the  saved  —  to  all  the  miseries  of  the 
lost;  he  is  a  witness  to  what  man  is  capable  of  by  grace,  and 
what  man  may  be  destined  to  by  transgression.  He  is  a  witness 
who  speaks  not  from  hearsay,  or  from  second  hand.  He  has 
come  down  from  the  glory  that  is  inaccessible  and  full  of  light, 
and  spoken  with  the  tones  of  authority  that  which  he  has  seen 
and  known  to  be  the  very  fact  and  truth  of  God. 

He  is  introduced,  in  the  second  place,  as  the  "  beginning  of 
the  creation  of  God."  Perhaps  this  word  might  be  translated 
"  prince."  'Apxv  is  a  Greek  word  that  means  frequently  "  a  be- 
ginning;" occasionally,  "a  prince,"  or  "chief;"  or,  it  maybe 
used  in  the  same  way  as  the  Latin  words,  "  origo  mundi,"  which 
mean,  not  "  the  oi-igin  of  the  world ;"  but  "  he  that  originated 
the  world ;"  the  beginner  of  the  world.  We  are  therefore  to 
understand  by  "the  beginning  of  the  creation  of  God,"  not  that 
Christ  was  the  first  being  who  was  created,  for  this  is  not  the 
meaning  of  the  words,  but  that  he  is  the  Creator  of  all  things 
that  are  and  have  been  created.  If  this  be  so,  then  it  reveals 
what  science  has  clearly  demonstrated,  that  matter  is  not  eternal 
— that  the  world  had  a  beginning. 

It  may  appear  to  some  of  you  who  have  common  sense,  that  to 
speak  of  this  world,  so  liable  to  wear  and  tear,  and  Waste  and 
decay,  as  having  had  no  beginning,  but  existing  from  everlasting 
ages,  is  to  speak  of  an  effect  without  supposing  there  can  be  a 
cause ;  in  other  words,  to  speak  absurdity :  yet  such  absurdity  has 
been  gravely  maintained.  It  is,  then,  a  very  interesting  fact 
that  science,  from  more  provinces  than  one, — geology,  astronomy, 
geography, — declares  with  one  voice  that  there  is  unequivocal 
evidence  in  the  heavens  above,  indisputable  proof  in  the  earth 
beneath,  that  this  globe  on  which  we  stand  had  a  beginning ;  and 


ENTHUSIASM.  437 

that  that  beginning  is  not  a  very  ancient,  but  a  very  recent  one. 
It  is  thus  that  science  steps  forward,  not  to  aid  religion,  but  to 
add  fresh  evidence  to  the  skeptic  mind,  of  the  truth  of  religion, 
— that  God  spoke  trath,  and  that  the  Bible  embodies  that  truth, 
"  All  things  were  made  by  him,  and  without  him  was  not  any- 
thing made  that  was  made."  Let  us  look  at  the  sky  above,  or  at 
the  earth  below — let  us  study  the  ant  in  its  nest,  or  the  angel 
beside  the  throne — let  us  look  at  the  dew-drop  that  dances  on  the 
rose-leaf,  or  at  the  sea  that  girdles  the  earth  as  with  a  broad 
and  glorious  zone — let  us  look  at  fruit,  and  flower,  and  pebble, 
and  gem,  and  star;  and  if  we  look  rightly  and  honestly,  we  shall 
see  such  proofs  of  wisdom,  beneficence,  power,  design,  that  we 
shall  come  to  the  conclusion  which  inspiration  itself  nas  an- 
nounced, that  "  in  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens  and 
the  earth ;"  so  that  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  like  one  vast  trans- 
parency, disclose  the  glory  of  his  power,  the  inspirations  of  his 
wisdom,  the  luminous  monuments  of  his  beneficence  and  love. — 
Christ  is  "  the  beginning  of  the  creation  of  God." 

Here,  too,  is  the  interesting  peculiarity  in  this  expression,  that 
the  Creator  of  heaven  and  of  earth — the  beginner  of  the  creation 
of  God — is  declared  to  be  "  Christ."  Thus,  then,  creation  and 
redemption  are  not  antagonisms,  they  are  at  bottom  in  harmony — 
they  cohere  by  unseen  bands  and  ties  with  each  other,  and  in  one 
great  author — Christ  Jesus.  There  is  something  beautiful  in  this 
thought,  that  the  hand  of  the  crucified  lighted  up  all  the  ever- 
burning lamps  of  the  sky ;  pencilled  with  their  beauty,  and  per- 
fumed with  their  fragrance  all  the  flowers  of  the  earth ;  and  ever- 
more continues  to  the  former  their  brightness,  to  the  last  their 
tints,  to  all  things  existence.  There  is  something  beautiful  in 
the  fact,  that  the  Son  of  Man  is  the  Creator  of  all  things. 
There  is  in  this  the  origin  of  all,  an  augury  of  what  shall  be  the 
issue  of  all :  wind  and  wave  shall  celebrate  his  glory,  and  star  and 
flower  and  gem  shall  silently  hymn  his  praise;  and  upon  the 
earth,  as  upon  a  gem  retrieved  and  restored,  there  shall  be  en- 
graven the  name,  not  merely  of  the  God  that  made  it,  but  that 
name  which  is  above  every  name — the  name  of  him  that  redeemed 
and  restored  it. 

If  Jesus  be  thus  the  maker,  as  he  is  the  redeemer  of  all 
37* 


438  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

things,  is  there  not  suggested  by  this  fact  a  very  interesting  plea 
that  we  may  use  at  the  throne  of  grace — namely,  that  at  least 
we  are  God  our  Saviour's  workmanship  ?  In  one  of  the  collects 
of  the  English  Prayer-book  these  words  occur —  "  0  God  .  .  .  who 
hatest  nothing  that  thou  hast  made."  This  is  true.  I  do  not 
think  that  God  hates  anything  he  has  made :  he  made  everything 
good,  beautiful,  and  holy  :  sin  is  the  foul  blot  that  has  fallen  upon 
it — the  fever  that  racks  and  convulses  it ;  and  these  shall  be  re- 
moved and  extinguished  that  it  may  be  reinstated  in  its  primeval 
goodness,  and  made  to  subserve  its  grand  and  original  design. 
May  you  not,  then,  thus  plead  at  a  throne  of  grace  ?  If  your 
mind  is  so  dark,  and  your  heart  so  desponding,  that  when  you 
pray  to  God,  you  cannot  say  to  him,  "  0  Lord,  I  am  thy  child ; 
thou  hast  adopted  me  as  thy  son  j  therefore,  0  Lord,  my  Father, 
forgive  me  and  bless  me ;"  you  may  at  least,  in  the  very  worst  and 
darkest  of  circumstances,  draw  near  to  him,  and  say,  "  0  Lord,  my 
Creator,  my  Saviour,  thou  hast  made  me ;  that  hand  that  was  nailed 
to  the  cross  fashioned  me ;  thou  hatest  nothing  that  thou  hast  made ; 
take  me,  creature  of  thy  power,  make  me  a  monument  of  thy  mercy, 
the  subject  of  thy  forgiveness;  reinstate  thy  creature  in  thy  love, 
and  give  me,  who  have  the  relation  of  thy  creature,  the  affection 
of  thy  son,  that  I  may  praise  and  glorify  thy  name  for  ever." 

Our  Lord  having  thus  introduced  himself  as  "  the  Amen — the 
first  and  the  last,  the  beginning  of  the  creation  of  God,  the 
Maker  of  all,"  next  states  what  are  his  views  of  the  state  of  the 
Church  to  which  this  epistle  is  addressed,  in  these  necessarily 
true  and  expressive  words,  "  I  know  thy  works,  that  thou  art 
neither  cold  nor  hot."  There  was  no  charge  of  heterodoxy 
against  the  Church  of  Laodicea :  there  was  no  imputation  of 
error  in  any  doctrine  contained  in  her  confession  of  faith.  She 
appears  to  have  been  a  "highly  respectable  Church;"  to  have 
been  externally  beautiful ;  a  consistent  rubrician  in  all  respects, 
as  far  as  the  outward  eye  could  take  cognisance  of  her  state ;  a 
model  of  what  a  Church  should  be ;  but  when  Christ  looks  at  a 
Church,  or  examines  an  individual,  he  judges  not  "after  the 
sight  of  the  eyes,  nor  after  the  hearing  of  the  ear."  Man's  eye 
sees  the  exterior  only.  With  us  the  bended  knee,  the  uplifted 
eye,  the  fervent  and  eloquent  petition,  are  the  evidences  of  re- 


ENTHUSIASM.  43^ 

ligion;  but  Christ  looks,  not  at  the  bended  knee,  but  at  the 
bended  heart ;  he  listens  not  to  the  expressions  of  the  lips,  but 
to  the  silent  and  half-expressed  groans  and  longings  of  the  soul 
within.  Man  judges  after  the  outward  appearance ;  Christ  judges 
righteous  judgment  j  and  when  the  rest  of  the  seven  Churches 
probably  pronounced  the  Church  of  Laodicea  to  be  a  model  of 
ecclesiastical  decorum,  rich,  and  in  need  of  nothing,  the  great 
Lord  of  that  Church,  when  he  looked  down  and  saw  what  her 
heart  was,  proclaimed  her  to  be  "neither  cold  nor  hot,"  but 
"  lukewarm ;"  a  state  so  abhorrent  that  he  declared  that  there- 
fore he  would  utterly  reject  her.  Now  what  is  this  state  which 
was  "  neither  cold  nor  hot  ?"  She  had  neither  the  anxiety  of 
the  earnest  inquirer,  nor  the  repose  of  the  mature  believer.  She 
had  all  the  symmetry  of  the  exquisite  statue,  but  all  its  insen- 
sibility also.  She  had  "  the  form  of  godliness,"  in  all  its  beauty; 
but  she  had  none  of  that  inner  life,  without  which  the  perfect 
form  is  hateful  in  the  sight  of  Grod.  It  is  not  excitement,  ending 
in  fanaticism,  that  we  expect  or  demand  in  a  Christian  Church. 
We  do  not  look  for  the  heat  of  the  torrid  zone,  nor  do  we  desire 
the  coldness  of  the  polar  regions ;  but  what  we  ask  for,  and  what 
Christianity  will  be,  wherever  Christianity  is  felt,  is  the  equator 
of  genial  warmth,  of  Christian  light  and  love.  Christian  love  is 
too  deep  for  fanaticism  —  it  is  too  fervent  for  indifference.  It  is 
that  divine  mixture  of  principle  and  passion  which  has  all  the 
fixity  of  the  one,  and  all  the  fervour  of  the  other, — which  enables 
a  man  to  live  divinely,  which  is  even  more  difficult  than  to  die  a 
martyr.  But  this  Church  had  none  of  that  warmth.  She  had 
neithet  the  coldness  of  direct  opposition  to  God,  nor  the  warmth 
of  direct  enthusiasm  for  God.  She  had  the  form ;  but  she  was 
destitute  of  the  power.  She  gloried  in  her  want  of  enthusiasm, 
fervour,  or  emotion.  Was  there  consistency  in  this?  Do  we 
find  in  this  world  lukewarmness  in  any  one  department  of  real 
life  ?  Do  we  find  lukewarmness  in  the  parliament  ?  What  zeal 
is  exhibited  there  by  the  champions  of  one  measure  against  the 
defenders  of  another !  What  earnestness  in  speaking !  what 
enthusiasm  in  applauding  sentiments  to  which  five  hundred  souls 
give  a  response  !  In  the  House  of  Commons  there  is  no  coldness 
or  lukewarmness  or  apathy  oa  the  one  side  ar  on  the  other.     If 


440  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

we  turn  to  the  Exchange,  shall  we  discover  any  lukewarmness 
there  ?  What  anxious  faces !  what  throbbing  hearts !  what 
agitation  about  some  speculation  which  may  end  in  the  ruin,  or 
issue  in  the  new  and  great  prosperity  of  him  who  has  begun  it ! 
Shall  we  look  to  the  streets  of  the  city  ?  to  the  stations  of  the  rail- 
ways ?  to  the  ports,  the  harbours,  and  the  markets  ?  Shall  we  visit 
the  field  of  battle,  the  deck,  the  camp — anywhere  if  man  be  there  ? 
Do  we  find  anything  like  lukewarmness  where  he  believes  his  safety 
or  his  interest,  or  the  safety  and  interests  of  his  country  and 
his  kind  in  this  world  to  be  involved  ?  Yet  all  this  enthusiasm 
is  for  a  corruptible  crown ;  and  shall  we  be  lukewarm  who  strive 
for  an  incorruptible  crown  ?  They  are  enthusiastic  in  the  pursuit 
of  a  phantom  that  perishes  when  they  grasp  it :  is  it  possible  that 
we  can  be  cold,  or  careless,  or  apathetic  in  the  pursuit  of  that 
which  involves  the  glory  of  him  who  died  for  us,  and  the  happi- 
ness of  our  precious  and  immortal  souls  ?  Yet  is  it  not  the  fact, 
the  strange  and  all  but  inexplicable  fact,  that  men  who  will  ap- 
plaud enthusiasm  in  the  merchant,  heroism  in  the  soldier,  excite- 
ment in  the  senator,  are  yet  the  advocates  and  admirers,  in  Chris- 
tianity, of  coldness,  lukewarmness,  apathy,  and  indifference,  alike 
in  the  pulpit  and  in  the  pew  ?  It  is  not  respectable  to  be  en- 
thusiastic in  the  pulpit ;  it  is  not  becoming — what  is  worse,  it  is 
not  fashionable,  it  is  Methodistic,  it  is  fanatical — to  show  that 
you  are  in  earnest,  or  that  you  believe  what  you  say  in  the  pul- 
pit. So  says  the  world.  But  look  at  the  merchant,  who  crosses 
broad  seas,  sails  to  distant  lands,  risks  his  health,  his  life,  his 
happiness  even,  in  the  pursuit  of  fortune ;  is  he  mad  ?  is  he  re- 
spectable ?  The  world  would  say.  What  a  persevering,  indus- 
trious man !  Yet  he  does  it  to  obtain  riches  that  may  take  wings 
and  leave  him,  and  which  he  must  leave :  we  do  it  to  obtain  the 
unsearchable  riches  of  Christ.  Look  at  the  husbandman,  who 
toils  in  spring,  watches  in  summer,  reaps  in  autumn,  amid  a 
thousand  anxieties :  is  he  mad  ?  No ;  his  enthusiasm  is  com- 
mendable :  yet  he  labours  thus  for  the  bread  that  perisheth ;  we 
for  the  bread  that  endureth  unto  everlasting  life.  Let  a  nation 
be  threatened  with  invasion  :  "  To  arms  !"  is  heard  in  every  street; 
its  peaceful  citizens  rush  to  join  in  the  strife,  and  a  nation  rises 
up  to  delend  its  altars,  its  throne,  and  its  hearths.     Are  they 


ENTHUSIASM.  441 

mad  ?  No ;  they  are  loyal,  they  do  only  what  is  their  duty  :  and 
shall  we  be  branded  as  madmen,  when  we  feel  enthusiastic  in 
the  advocacy  or  defence  of  that  which  affects  the  everlasting 
felicity  and  well-being  of  our  souls  ?  My  dear  friends,  it  is  only 
scepticism  that  suffers  enthusiasm  in  the  things  of  Caesar,  and 
will  not  endure  enthusiasm  in  the  weightier  and  more  important 
things  of  God.  Look  where  you  will — consult  any  analogy,  and 
see  that  lukewarmness,  indifference,  or  apathy,  are  chargeable 
alike  with  guilt  and  inconsistency  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man. 

In  the  second  place,  let  me  say  that  lukewarmness  will  never 
enable  us  to  triumph  over  the  obstacles  with  which  we  have  to 
meet  in  our  course  to  the  judgment-seat.  Satan  is  in  earnest; 
and  a  cold  minister  in  the  pulpit  will  be  no  match  for  an  earnest 
and  active  devil  going  about  among  the  pews  seeking  whom  he 
may  devour.  Surely,  in  such  a  case,  it  needs  no  prophet's  eye  or 
inspiration  to  predict  what  must  be  the  issue  of  the  conflict. 

In  the  next  place,  it  is  impossible  to  believe  the  truths  of  the 
Gospel,  and  yet  be  lukewarm  or  apathetic.  We  are  so  constituted 
that  our  feelings  form  as  integral  a  part  of  our  nature  as  our 
judgment,  our  imagination,  or  our  taste.  We  are  not  mere 
zoophytes;  we  do  more  than  live — we  reason,  feel,  reflect.  We 
have  feelings,  and  those  feelings  will  be  developed ;  and  if  they 
do  not  find  nutriment  and  stimulus  in  the  great  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity, they  will  draw  nutriment  and  stimulus  from  the  vices, 
the  follies,  and  the  caprices  of  this  world.  It  is  not  a  question 
whether  we  shall  feel  or  not,  for  feel  we  must;  but  the  real 
question  is,  shall  our  feelings  be  nourished  from  the  well  of  life, 
or  shall  they  be  stimulated,  excited,  and  nourished  by  the  follies 
and  the  dissipation  of  this  present  world  ?  The  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity, I  submit,  are  fitted  and  calculated  to  awaken  the  feelings 
of  mankind.  When  we  hear  of  a  Regulus,  in  ancient  Rome, 
voluntarily  surrendering  his  life  for  the  safety  of  his  country,  our 
emotions  are  stirred  by  the  recollection.  When  we  read  of  a 
Howard  visiting  the  prisons  of  Europe,  and  at  his  risk  and  amid 
Sacrifice  ministering  to  the  outcast  and  degraded  prisoner,  the 
best  feelings  of  our  hearts  are  stirred  to  their  very  depths ;  and 
is  it  possible,  then,  that  we  can  hear  that  one  so  loved  us  in  our 
ruin — so  loved  us  when  we  rebelled  against  the  very  love,  that 


442  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

embraced  us  —  that  he  gave  as  the  expression  of  that  love,  not 
■worlds  —  not  angel,  nor  archangel,  —  but  his  only-begotten  Son  j 
and  gave  him  not  merely  to  teach  us,  but  gave  him  to  be  a  victim 
for  our  sins,  and  to  offer  up  himself  upon  the  cross  as  an  atoning 
sacrifice  for  us  and  for  our  salvation ;  —  can  we  read  or  hear  of 
so  striking,  so  unparalleled  a  phenomenon  in  the  history  of  the 
earth,  and  in  the  experience  of  man,  and  yet  not  have  all  the 
best  feelings  and  sympathies  of  our  nature  raised  to  their  highest 
piteh,  and  love  witH  an  enthusiastic  love,  and  praise  with  in- 
tensest  gratitude,  him  who  loved  us,  and  so  bled  and  so  died  for 
us  ?  It  is  impossible  that  we  can  believe  the  fact,  and  yet  not 
be  moved  by  it;  and  our  belief  of  that  fact  can  only  be  evidenced 
by  the  feelings  that  we  evince  concerning  it.  The  man  who  feels 
no  gratitude  to  God,  nor  love  to  Jesus,  may  disguise  it  as  he  likes, 
but  in  deed  and  in  truth  he  docs  not  believe  that  a  God  has  suf- 
fered that  sinners  might  be  redeemed;  or  he  believes  in  Calvary 
just  as  he  believes  in  Salamis  or  Marathon ;  he  believes  in  Jesus 
just  as  he  believes  in  Alexander  or  in  Caesar,  or  in  some  cold  and 
dead  fact  which  belongs  to  another  world,  or  another  age,  and  has 
no  living  connexion  with  him  or  bearing  on  his  destiny. 

Let  me  ask  you.  Are  your  feelings  awakened  as  you  read  the 
Gospel  ?  Have  your  emotions  of  gratitude  and  love  been  quick- 
ened and  excited  as  you  hear  the  glad  tidings  ?  Has  the  fact 
that  Christ  has  died  for  us  made  an  impression  correspondent  to 
its  magnitude  upon  your  hearts,  your  feelings,  your  consciences  ? 
"What  is  Christianity  to  you  ?  what  part  has  it  in  your  experience  ? 
what  virtue  has  it  given  to  your  nature ;  what  fervour  to  your 
emotions?  what  influence  has  it  left  on  your  character?  You 
believe  just  so  far  as  you  feel,  and  you  feel  just  so  far  as  you 
act. 

Let  me  ask  you,  then,  if  Christ  had  never  died,  or  if  you  had 
never  heard  of  him,  would  your  character  and  conduct  be  the 
same  to-day  that  they  now  are  ?  If  the  Bible  had  never  been 
placed  in  your  hands,  would  you  be  just  as  you  now  are  ?  Then 
Christianity  has  not  been  received  by  you,  its  virtue  has  no£ 
touched  you  with  its  beneficent  and  transforming  power.  The 
atonement  is  not  a  dry  fact  that  relates  to  angels,  or  a  dead  fact 
that  belongs  to  antiquaries,  but  a  plastic  fact  which  is  meant  to 


ENTHUSIASM.  44t& 

influence  our  mind,  change  our  nature,  raise  our  feelings,  awaken 
our  gratitude,  create  responsive  love,  enable  us  to  say  from  the 
very  heart  —  "Lord,  thou  knowest  all  things,  thou  knowest  that 
I  love  thee."  Think  what  the  facts  of  the  Gospel  are :  I  fear, 
judging  from  my  own  sad  experience,  that  we  are  apt  often  to 
repeat  these  facts — these  solemn,  startling,  awakening  facts— just 
as  we  read  the  occurrence  of  civil  and  profane  and  every-day  his- 
tory. But  try,  try  in  your  sequestered  moments  to  grasp  and 
study  them,  —  to  realize  this  fact,  for  instance,  that  this  air  was 
breathed  and  made  vocal  with  the  words  of  very  God  in  our  hu- 
manity—  that  this  earth  was  trodden  by  his  holy  feet,  and  that 
these  sea-waves  bore  him — that  he  was  nailed  to  that  cross — that 
agonies  which  I  cannot  delineate,  and  which  no  mortal  tongue 
has  ever  told,  rent  and  tore  his  holy  heart  upon  the  accurfsed 
tree,  and  that  all  this  agony — the  agony  of  eternity  and  of  infini- 
tude compressed  into  moments,  was  for  us,  and  for  us  sinners, 
callous  to  our  need  of  it :  and  then  let  me  ask,  what  effect  does 
this  fact  produce  ?  Is  it  true  ?  If  true,  the  wonder  is  that  it 
does  not  electrify  mankind  :  it  is  the  awful  evidence  that  a  ter- 
rible disease  has  fallen  upon  us  and  corrupted  our  nature  to  the 
core,  that  we  can  hear  such  a  truth  and  be  insensate  as  icicles,  or 
at  most,  "lukewarm,  neither  cold  nor  hot." 

The  results  of  the  Gospel  are  fitted  to  render  lukewarmness 
unnatural,  and  to  awaken  man's  feeling  to  the  utmost.  What 
are  these  ?  If  all  the  effects  of  Christianity  be,  that  some  shall 
be  rich  in  this  world,  and  others  poor,  —  some  shall  be  learned, 
and  others  ignorant, — you  might  justly  feel  apathy.  But  far  dif- 
ferent are  the  issues  of  our  present  probation  —  they  stretch  into 
eternity;  the  words  that  are  now  dropped  into  your  ears,  will 
awaken  their  sounds  at  the  judgment  morn,  either  as  the  tones 
of  that  jubilee  in  which  you  shall  ever  mingle  to  praise  and 
glorify  redeeming  love,  or  as  the  reverberations  and  the  crashes 
of  that  thunder  which  shall  be  the  knell  of  your  everlasting  and 
irreversible  perdition.  Men  and  brethren,  not  separating  myself 
from  you,  we  are  speaking  and  hearing  for  eternity.  A  painter 
was  once  asked,  Why  he  took  so  much  care  in  the  execution  of 
his  paintings  ?  the  answer  he  gave  was,  "  I  paint  for  eternity." 
He  desired  to  obtain  a  world-lasting  name.     And  if  he  for  an 


444  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

earthly  and  corruptible  reward  underwent  so  much  labour  and 
took  so  great  pains,  should  not  we  speak  with  subduing  solemnity 
of  utterance,  and  hear  with  thrilling  interest,  and  act  with  deep 
and  earnest  energy,  for  an  eternal  one  ?  Eternity  is  that  inex- 
haustible and  incomprehensible  word  in  which  our  life  culminates, 
that  makes  all  the  difference.  In  a  very  few  years,  —  it  may  be, 
to  some  of  us,  in  a  very  few  days, — the  outward  tent  in  which  we 
have  tabernacled  shall  be  struck  and  be  folded  and  disappear,  but 
its  inmate  emerges  only  into  greater  light ;  this  soul  which  now 
thinks  and  feels,  and  hopes  and  desponds  alternately  in  every  one 
— this  living  principle,  which  now  meditates  in  one  and  puts  off 
in  another,  — struggles  and  battles  with  conscience  in  a  third, — 
would  be  a  Christian  if  he  could  give  up  his  lusts  in  a  fourth, — 
dares  not  be  a  Christian  because  it  would  interfere,  he  thinks, 
with  his  happiness,  in  a  fifth,  —  this  live  spark  called  the  soul, 
which  is,  after  all,  the  man,  and  of  which  the  body  is  but  the 
covering,  or  the  outward  machinery  that  enables  it  to  communi- 
cate with  the  outward  world, — must  stand  before  God,  and  receive 
there,  either  the  sentence  of  endless  suffering,  or  the  inheritance 
of  everlasting  joy. 

Let  us  ask  ourselves,  and  let  us  meet  the  question,  Is  there 
such  a  place  as  hell  ?  is  that  word  a  bugbear  wherewith  to  frighten 
children,  or  is  it  a  reality  ?  I  cannot  conceive  of  heaven  without 
a  hell;  I  cannot  conceive  the  necessity  of  the  Gospel,  without 
granting  the  prior  necessity  of  eternal  punishment  of  sin ;  and 
if  it  too  be  a  fact,  that  the  many  are  called  and  that  the  few  only 
are  chosen;  if  to  be  lost  is  not  a  strange  or  unfrequent  thing; 
can  that  man  be  possessed  of  common  sense  —  does  he  show  mo- 
derate consistency  if  neither  lunatic  nor  demon  —  does  he  fail  to 
acquire  a  tremendous  responsibility,  who  will  venture  —  dare — to 
put  off  the  anxious  consideration  of  the  great  and  solemn  pros- 
pects of  eternity,  till  it  maybe  too  late  -to  consider  them  in  time, 
or  his  body  too  feeble  to  grapple  with  them  through  disease? 
Young  men,  I  speak  especially  to  you  —  do  let  us  consider  this 
subject;  do  pause  and  entertain  the  question.  Whither  we  are 
going  ?  what  hereafter  will  be  to  us  ?  what  is  to  be  the  issue  for 
ever?  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  preaching  every  Sunday, 
this  hearing  every  Sunday,  this  circulation  of  Bibles,  this  spread- 


ENTHUSIASM.  445 

ing  of  the  Gospel,  this  stir  and  bustle  about  God  —  the  soul  — 
eternity  ?  I  am  not  here  to  entertain  you,  or  to  do  so  much  work 
for  so  much  pay.  We  are  handling  sacred  and  momentous  things ; 
we  are  here  to  gather  light  ■wherein  to  see  what  our  future  state 
shall  be.     Our  souls  may  be  lost,  and  for  ever. 

If  Abraham  could  be  lukewarm,  when  he  pleaded  for  the  cities 
of  the  plain  —  if  Moses  could  be  lukewarm  when  he  raised  the 
serpent  of  brass,  and  bade  the  dying  look  that  they  might  live — 
if  David  could  be  lukewarm  when  he  sought  to  propitiate  the 
destroying  angel,  as  he  smote  down  thousands  at  every  blow — if 
Aaron  could  be  lukewarm  when  he  stood  between  the  living 
and  the  dead  —  then  may  ministers  of  the  Gospel  be  lukewarm 
when  they  preach  such  solemn  truths,  and  hearers  of  the  Gospel 
be  "  neither  cold  nor  hot"  when  they  listen  to  them.  My  dear 
friends,  let  me  ask  you  again  to  study  and  examine  the  disclosures 
of  the  Gospel.  If  they  be  indisputably  true,  as  they  are,  receive 
them  into  the  very  depths  of  your  souls ;  let  them  put  forth  their 
full  force  within  you,  as  plastic  principles,  as  living  effective  say- 
ings, as  words  whose  echoes  are  joys  or  judgments  in  eternity : 
if  they  be  not  true,  then  act  consistently;  reject  them,  denounce 
them,  treat  them,  not  with  apathy,  but  with  hostility ;  they  are 
in  such  a  case  bitter  impostures,  try  to  exterminate  them.  I 
solemnly  believe  that  there  is  not  a  spot  on  which  a  man  can 
stand  with  consistency,  till  he  take  bis  place  with  blaspheming 
atheist-s,  in  that  vacuum  in  which  no  soul  can  breathe  and  no 
wing  can  soar,  and  say,  "  No  God,"  or  with  the  evangelical  Chris- 
tian who  can  pour  forth  from  the  very  heart  the  inadequate  ex- 
pression of  its  fervour,  "  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory,  save  in 
the  cross  of  Christ,  by  whom  the  world  is  crucified  unto  me,  and 
I  unto  the  world." 

Let  me  ask  you  at  your  leisure  to  read  a  book  which  I  have 
studied  with  much  pleasure,  and,  I  trust,  not  without  profit, 
"  James's  Earnest  Ministry."  An  excellent  elder  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland,  Mr.  Hope,  has  made  a  present  of  a  copy  of  this 
book  to  every  parochial  clergyman  in  the  Church  of  Scotland. 
Earnestly  do  I  pray  that  upon  the  reading  of  such  a  book  a  bless- 
ing may  descend,  and  that  the  clergy  of  that  Church  may  at  last 
discover  that  we  have  had  enough  of  intellectual  preachers — 

38 


446  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

more  than  enough  of  metaphysical  preachers — plenty  of  popular 
preachers ;  what  we  require  —  what  the  age  —  what  souls  and 
Christianity  require,  are  living,  simple,  earnest  ministers.  I 
believe  that  one  earnest  preacher  of  eternal  truth,  however  de- 
ficient he  be  in  eloquence,  in  logic,  in  talent,  is  worth  twenty  of 
your  intellectual  preachers  whom  gaping  crowds  rush  to  hear, 
and  dying  hundreds  applaud,  and  pass  to  the  judgment-seat  with- 
out one  responsive  feeling  of  love  to  God,  or  anxiety  about  their 
precious  souls.  Such  crowds  thirst  after  mere  splendour  of 
diction,  and  they  have  their  reward.  To  them  buttercups  in  the 
field  are  more  precious  than  scams  of  gold  below  it.  The  earnest 
infidel  is  more  than  a  match  for  the  lukewarm  Christian.  To 
what  is  Mahometanism  indebted  for  its  spread  ?  To  the  earnest- 
ness of  Mahomet  and  those  that  followed  him.  To  what  is 
Popery  indebted  for  its  triumph  ?  To  the  lukewarmness  of  Pro- 
testants, and  to  the  zeal,  the  enthusiasm,  the  devotedness  of 
Roman  Catholic  priests.  To  what  is  it  that  Tractarians  owe 
their  progress  ?  If  those  Tractarians  were  hypocrites,  I  should 
not  fear  them;  but  I  believe  them  to  be  men  thoroughly  in 
earnest,  and  that  they  are  prepared  to  sacrifice  and  to  sufi"er  in 
order  to  support  what  they  believe  to  be  the  truth,  but  what  we 
believe  and  know  on  no  uncertain  grounds  to  be  fatal  deception. 
And  it  is  because  the  Romanist,  the  Mahometan,  the  Tractarian, 
are  enduring,  earnest,  devoted  men,  that  their  errors  spread, 
that  perverts  are  made  to  them,  and  that  Protestants  give  way 
before  them. 

I  believe  that  the  day  is  coming,  nay,  is  almost  come,  when 
the  great  battle  will  be  between  living,  earnest  Christians,  and 
living,  earnest  Papists,  infidels,  and  skeptics.  It  will  be  the  life 
of  God  against  the  life  of  Satan.  You  cannot  but  see  in  look- 
ing around  you  in  the  world,  that  what  have  been  called  "  shams" 
are  all  being  dissipated ;  hypocrisies  are  getting  more  and  more 
at  a  discount ;  the  sea  of  seeming  ebbs  every  day,  and  men  be- 
come realities.  I  see  infidelity  at  length  open,  manly,  earnest, 
active ;  I  see  Popery  becoming  undisguised,  earnest,  active.  Oh  ! 
let  not  us,  who  have  the  truth,  and  know  the  truth,  and  I  trust 
in  some  degree  feel  the  truth,  be  "  neither  cold  nor  hot,"  but 
lukewarm,  at  such  a  crisis.     The  ark  of  the  Lord  is  committed 


-ENTHUSIASM.  447 

to  us  :  great  destinies  are,  humanly  speaking,  in  our  hands  j  God's 
glory  is  in  the  midst  of  us,  to  be  obscured,  betrayed,  or  rendered 
more  luminous.  Let  us  contend  for  the  faith  earnestly;  let  us 
fight  the  good  fight ;  let  us  lay  hold  with  no  equivocal  grasp  on 
eternal  life ;  let  us  live  for  the  Gospel,  and,  if  needs  be,  let  us 
die  for  it.  The  world  tells  you  constantly,  extremes  are  bad, 
moderation  is  the  right  thing.  My  dear  friends,  in  matters  of 
the  soul,  extremes  are  the  highest  sense,  moderation  is  the 
greatest  madness.  There  is,  as  I  have  told  you,  no  medium  be- 
tween cold  freezing  scepticism  —  cold,  barren,  without  God,  in- 
stinct with  hatred,  enmity,  and  contempt,  and  the  living  Chris- 
tianity which  lives  and  dies  for  Christ  Jesus. 

I  ask  you  then,  hearers  and  readers,  if  you  have  feelings, 
where  do  they  cluster  ?  on  what  soil  do  they  grow  ?  what  is  their 
nutriment  —  where  is  the  place  where  they  would  culminate  for 
ever?  If  you  know  the  Gospel,  is  it  possible  that  you  can  fail 
to  feel  its  power  ?  If  you  believe  the  Gospel,  is  it  possible  that 
you  can  fail  to  be  influenced  by  it  ?  And  if  we  do  feel,  and  are 
conscious  that  whatever  else  we  be,  we  are  in  earnest  —  if  our 
souls  glow,  as  they  should  burn  and  glow,  with  divine  love  — 
then,  fathers  in  your  families,  brethren  in  your  closets,  all  of  you 
in  the  sanctuary,  pray  that  there  may  be,  what  is  indeed  needed, 
a  revival  of  living  religion  in  the  midst  of  us — a  pouring  out  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  that  with  an  abundant  blessing  there 
may  be  abundant  results,  and  Christianity  may  rise  from  the  dust 
in  which  it  has  been  laid,  and  put  on  her  bridal  raiment,  her 
coronation  robes,  and  make  ready  as  a  bride  to  meet  Him  whose 
footfall  is  already  heard  at  our  doors,  and  who  will  come,  and 
that  right  speedily. 


LECTURE  XXIX. 

DIVINE    COUNSEL. 

"  Because  thou  sayest,  I  am  rich,  and  increased  with  goods,  and  have  need 
of  nothing,*  and  linowest  not  that  thou  art  wretched,  and  miserable,  and  poor, 
and  blind,  and  naked :  I  counsel  thee  to  buy  of  me  gold  tried  in  the  fire,  that 
thou  mayest  be  rich;  and  white  raiment,  that  thou  mayest  be  clothed,  and  that 
the  shame  of  thy  nakedness  do  not  appear;  and  anoint  thine  eyes  with  eye- 
salve,  that  thou  mayest  see." — Rev.  iii.  17,  18. 

I  HAVE  already  explained  the  condition  of  this  Church  as  ex- 
pressed by  the  word  "  lukewarmness."  I  endeavoured  to  show 
what  were  its  characteristics,  and  what  was  its  nature.  We  have 
in  the  verses  I  have  selected  for  this  evening's  lecture,  the  secret 
source  of  that  false  peace  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  that  lukewarm- 
ness by  which  this  Church  was  characterised  upon  the  other. 
Her  peace  was  raised  upon  a  false  foundation,  and  therefore  it 
was  deceptive ;  her  cry  was,  "  Peace,  peace,"  when  there  was 
really,  and  before  God,  no  peace  at  all.  The  peace  that  stands 
every  ordeal,  that  will  gather  strength  from  over-passing  years, 
and  immortality  from  surrounding  decay,  is  that  peace  which  is 
based  on  truth,  which  flourishes  in  light,  and  lives  in  the  full  and 
conscious  revelation  of  all  that  heaven  is,  upon  the  one  hand,  and 
of  all  that  hell  is  declared  to  be,  upon  the  other  hand.  Peace,  to 
be  lasting — let  it  never  be  forgotten — must  be  built  upon  truth ; 
and  were  you  called  upon  to  part  with  one  of  these  graces,  part 
with  peace,  which  is  an  annual — dying  and  living  alternately; 
but  not  with  truth,  which  is  a  perennial,  and  if  lost,  not  easily 
recovered  and  replanted.  Controversy  for  truth  is  duty :  truth 
is  the  precious  thing,  never  to  be  compromised,  never  to  be  con- 
cealed, still  less  to  be  conceded. 

This  Church,  then,  believed,  under  the  influence  of  false  peace, 

(448) 


DIVINE  COUNSEL.  449 

that  she  was  "rich,  and  increased  in  goods,  and  had  need  of 
nothing."  Perhaps  this  means  that  she  thought  herself  spiritu- 
ally rich,  and  that  she  had  no  need  of  increased  spiritual  riches ; 
or  perhaps,  as  is  more  probable,  it  alludes  to  the  wealth  of  the 
world  which  filled  her  coffers,  and  made  her  suppose  that  there- 
fore her  heart  was  replenished  with  the  riches  of  eternity,  and 
that  she  had  all  she  required.  If  it  was  the  first,  namely,  the 
proud  persuasion  that  she  was  possessed  of  spiritual  riches,  the 
very  thought  was  evidence  of  her  real  poverty.  He  that  feels  he 
has  most  of  the  riches  of  grace,  knows  he  has  little  in  comparison 
with  what  he  ought  to  have,  and  none  that  he  can  boast  of.  He 
that  is  most  advanced  in  spiritual  knowledge  is  ever  the  most 
humbled,  because  of  the  vast  and  unreached  extent  of  progress 
that  lies  before  him.  The  horizon  widens  as  we  move ;  the  space 
dilates  as  we  rise ;  until  he  who  soared  to  the  third  heaven,  and 
viewed  scenes  that  were  unspeakable  and  replete  with  glory,  came 
down  to  earth  after  so  splendid  and  glorious  an  apocalypse,  and 
proclaimed  himself  "  not  worthy  to  be  called  an  apostle,"  "  least 
of  saints,"  and  "  chiefest  of  sinners."  It  is  thus  that  the  soul 
loosens  itself  from  worthless  things,  in  proportion  as  it  attaches 
itself  to  heavenly  things  j  and  the  farther  it  sees,  and  the  fuller 
and  richer  it  is,  the  more  emphatically  it  proclaims  itself  poor  and 
needy.     Truly  and  sweetly  does  the  poet  sing : — 

"The  saint  that  wears  heaven's  brightest  crown, 

In  deepest  adoration  bends ; 
The  weight  of  glory  bows  him  down 

The  most  when  most  his  soul  ascends. 
Nearest  the  throne  itself  must  be 
The  footstool  of  humility." 

Nor  less  beautifully  does  the  poet  sing : — 

"  The  bird  that  soars  with  highest  wing, 

Builds  on  the  ground  her  lowly  nest. 
And  she  that  doth  most  sweetly  sing. 

Sings  in  the  shade  when  all  things  rest. 
In  lark  and  nightingale  we  see 
What  honoar  batli  humility." 

38* 


450  THE  CHUKCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

He  who  hath  most  is  least  proud  of  it.  We  lost  our  locks  of 
strength,  our  attributes  of  beauty,  in  Paradise ;  and  to  boast,  in 
this  blighted  earth,  of  what  we  are  by  nature,  is  to  boast  of  what 
is  our  shame ;  while  to  boast  of  what  we  are  by  grace,  is  incom- 
patible with  the  possession  of  real  grace  at  all. 

But  I  cannot  suppose  that  it  was  this  Church's  spiritual  wealth 
that  she  boasted  of;  the  probability  is  rather  that  it  was  her 
earthly  wealth  that  blinded  her  eyes  to  her  deficiency  in  spiritual 
and  true  riches ;  and  if  so,  how  great  and  bitter  the  mistake ! 
And  yet,  is  not  this  the  blind  judgment  of  the  world  still  ?  It 
estimates  a  man,  not  by  his  excellence  within,  but  by  his  posses- 
sions without.  The  question  that  is  most  frequently  asked,  when 
it  is  desired  to  ascertain  a  man's  worth,  is  not  what  is  he,  but 
what  has  he.  In  this  world,  men  are  very  much  valued  as  the 
cinnamon  tree  is  valued,  of  which  the  wood,  the  inner  part,  is 
worth  nothing ;  while  the  bark,  the  outer  part,  is  alone  valuable. 
How  false  and  spurious  is  such  an  estimate !  The  soul  ruined 
cannot  be  retrieved  by  all  the  wealth  of  a  Croesus ;  salvation  lost 
cannot  be  restored  by  all  the  riches  in  the  world.  There  are 
wants  in  man's  soul  that  the  wealth  of  the  Indies  can  never 
satisfy;  and  there  are  necessities,  the  consequences  of  man's 
moral  and  spiritual  ruin,  in  repairing  and  replenishing  which, 
wealth  is  but  so  much  dross  that  may  be  thus  grasped.  Thus, 
whether  it  was  the  one  or  the  other — her  spiritual  wealth,  so  pre- 
sumed to  be,  or  her  material  wealth,  so  felt  to  be — her  judgment 
was  deception  and  delusion,  for  the  judgment  of  the  Son  of  God 
was  *'  Thou  art  poor,  and  blind,  and  miserable,  and  wretched." 

Now,  in  looking  at  this,  the  judgment  of  Christ,  let  us  never 
forget  that  we  are  not  what  we  think  we  are,  nor  what  others  say 
we  are ;  but  what  Christ  pronounces  us  to  be.  What  I  think  of 
myself  may  be  delusion ;  what  another  proclaims  about  me  may 
be  flattery ;  but  what  Christ  pronounces  concerning  us  is  ever- 
lasting and  immutable  truth.  Whatever,  therefore,  be  your  real 
or  your  imaginary  wealth,  it  is  a  wealth  that  has  no  currency 
above  the  skies ;  it  is  gold  which,  weighed  in  the  scales  of  the 
sanctuary,  has  no  specific  gravity.  Be  it  in  the  shape  of  raiment, 
or  be  it  in  the  shape  of  friends,  or  be  it  in  the  shape  of  cash, — 
whatever  be  the  form  or  body  of  your  wealth,  it  is  destitute  of 


DIVINE  COUNSEL.  451' 

substance ;  you  cannot  carry  it  beyond  the  grave ;  it  will  have  no 
currency  at  a  judgment-day;  it  will  do  nothing  good,  permanently 
good,  for  your  immortal  soul.  There  is  a  moth  in  the  fairest 
robe ;  there  is  a  worm  in  the  loftiest  cedar ;  there  is  oxide  in  the 
purest  gold ;  death  treads  upon  life,  eternity  upon  time ;  and  the 
judgment-seat,  where  material  possessions  are  of  no  account,  ia 
daily  at  our  doors. 

But  not  only  is  this  Church  pronounced  by  Christ  to  be 
"  poor,"  but  also  "blind."  You  may  see,  if  you  are  in  the  con- 
dition of  this  Church,  clearly  enough  the  light  of  time ;  but  you 
may  be  blind,  wholly  blind,  to  the  light  of  eternity.  You  may 
see  all  that  is  beautiful  in  the  things  of  earth,  and  be  able,  with 
connoisseur  discernment,  to  appreciate  and  to  value  them;  but 
you  may  yet  neither  see  the  light,  nor  appreciate  the  glory,  of  the 
things  of  God.  The  man  that  sees  no  beauty  in  holiness,  no  at- 
traction in  the  Bible,  no  excellence  in  the  Saviour,  no  precious- 
ness  in  his  soul  —  may  have  eyes  to  see  the  things  of  the  world  j 
but  he  is  inscribed  in  the  register  of  God,  where  the  registra- ' 
tion  cannot  be  expunged  or  reversed,  "poor,  and  blind,  and 
naked." 

But  not  only  was  this  Church  "  blind,"  but  she  was  "  naked." 
The  robe  which  wo  had  when  God  made  us  at  the  first,  good, 
beautiful,  and  holy,  we  lost  ia  Paradise ;  and  the  fig-leaves  which 
we  gather  from  the  blighted  trees  of  nature  are  but  an  apology 
for  that  righteousness,  and  disclose  only  more  painfully  the  very 
nakedness  they  are  meant  to  cover.  We  are,  therefore,  by  nature 
naked.  We  have  no  defence  from  the  summer's  heat,  nor  from 
the  winter's  cold;  we  are  destitute  of  that  robe — that  "first  robe" 
— that  "raiment  white  and  clean,"  which  is  "the  righteousness 
of  saints,"  and  without  which  we  cannot  be  entitled  to  heaven, 
or  meet  with  the  favour  and  the  acceptance  of  God.  Here  is 
man  by  nature;  "  poor,"  because  destitute  of  the  only  wealth  that 
has  currency  in  heaven ;  "  blind,"  because  insensible  to  the  only 
beauty  that  lasts  for  ever ;  "  naked,"  because  destitute  of  that 
only  righteousness, — obedience, — perfect  obedience,  to  a  perfect 
law,  which  God  requires  now  as  he  required  in  Paradise,  and 
without  which  we  can  never  see  him. 

And,  lastly,  this  Church  is  stated  to  be  "wret-ehed," — as  well 


452  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

as  "  poor,  blind,  naked."  If  a  man  be  not  a  Christian,  his  hap- 
piness is  but  a  dream,  his  greatest  joy  is  but  the  intoxication  of  a 
moment.  I  care  not  what  your  rank,  your  riches,  your  renown, 
your  talents,  your  interest  may  be,  if  you  are  destitute  of 
living  and  vital  religion  within  you,  you  know  that  in  your  mo- 
ments of  calmest,  soberest  reflection,  there  is  gall  and  wormwood 
within  you  —  a  bitterness  and  wretchedness  which  you  cannot  be 
rid  of.  Let  me  give  you  a  specimen  of  this  fact.  Lord  Ches- 
terfield, who  taught  his  son  every  outward  elegance,  but  forgot 
to  teach  him  the  cultivation  of  inward  graces — who  preferred  the 
gentleman  to  the  Christian,  and  courtesy  of  manner  to  purity 
of  morals  —  made  the  experiment  of  his  theory,  and  witnessed 
the  result.  He  thus  writes,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six  :  —  "I  have 
recently  read  Solomon  with  a  kind  of  sympathetic  feeling.  I  have 
been  as  wicked  and  as  vain,  though  not  as  wise,  as  he ;  but  I  am 
now  old  enough  and  wise  enough  to  feel  and  attest  the  truth  of 
his  reflection,  'All  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit.'  "  Let  me  give 
you  another  instance,  of  which  you  have  doubtless  all  heard — the 
celebrated  Madame  Malibran,  the  most  accomplished  vocalist  and 
singer  that  perhaps  ever  appeared  in  our  country.  One  day,  as 
she  returned  from  a  splendid  circle,  where  she  was  the  object  of 
universal  and  marked  admiration,  and  where  she  seemed  the  very 
personification  of  all  that  can  make  one  happy,  she  was  congratu- 
lated by  one  who  saw  the  admiration  she  excited,  and  heard  the 
applause  with  which  she  was  received.  She  immediately  burst 
into  tears,  and  said,  "  I  am  but  a  poor  opera  singer,  and  I  am  no 
more."  A  singer  whose  performances  have  recently  made  a  very 
great  impression  on  the  public  mind,  and  whose  personal  purity 
and  wortlx  are  equal  to  her  artistic  talents,  made  the  remark  to  a 
friend  of  mine,  who  told  me  of  it, — "  It  is  not  me  that  they  ad- 
mire, but  my  voice ;  and  that  cannot  make  me  happy,  though  it 
gives  them  delight."  Let  me  give  you  a  yet  more  striking  spe- 
cimen in  Goethe,  one  of  the  most  accomplished  geniuses  that 
Europe  ever  produced.  This  celebrated  German  poet,  orator, 
historian,  made  this  observation  at  the  close  of  his  life  : — "  They 
have  called  me  the  child  of  fortune ;  nor  have  I  any  reason  to 
complain  of  the  events  of  my  life :  yet  it  has  been  nothing  but 
labour  and  sorrow ;  and  in  seventy-five  years  I  have  not  had  four 


DIVINE  COUNSEL.  453 

weeks  of  true  comfort."  God  says,  "  The  natural  man  is  wi'etch- 
ed  :"  the  accomplished  gentleman  on  the  one  side ;  the  celebrated 
artiste  and  vocalist  upon  the  other;  the  most  renowned  of  all 
literati,  for  a  third;  and  the  noble  and  celebrated  poet,  Lord 
Byron,  whose  last  poem  is  proof,  for  a  fourth  •  all  testify,  from 
the  depths  of  their  more  or  less  agonized  and  disappointed  hearts, 
that  God's  word  is  true,  and  that  man  without  religion  is  "  poor, 
and  blind,  and  naked,  and  miserable."  True  happiness  must  be 
adapted  to  the  dignity  of  man,  or  it  cannot  be  happiness  at  all ; 
for  though  man  is  fallen,  sinful,  guilty,  ruined,  yet  there  are  the 
fragments  about  him  of  his  aboriginal  grandeur :  out  of  the 
smouldering  ashes  break  forth  at  times  live  sparks  of  the  linger- 
ing glory,  indicating  how  grand  he  once  was.  With  all  the  ruin 
of  which  man's  soul  is  the  victim,  it  is  yet  too  vast,  too  magnifi- 
cent, to  be  pleased  with  baubles,  or  to  find  its  happiness  in  trifles. 
It  is  the  evidence  of  man's  fall  that  he  seeks  happiness  on  earth ; 
it  is  the  evidence  of  man's  greatness  that  nothing  upon  earth 
can  bring  happiness  to  him.  An  angel  cannot  find  happiness  in 
blowing  soap-bubbles,  like  a  child ;  a  philosopher  cannot  derive 
true  delight  from  playing  at  marbles ;  nor  will  a  man  find  happi- 
ness anywhere  but  in  union  and  communion  with  God,  his  Father, 
in  Jesus  Christ.  Little  things,  earthly  things,  may  amuse  us; 
great  things,  eternal  things,  alone  can  satisfy  us. 

And  happiness  must  not  only  be  fitted  to  man's  dignity,  but  it 
must  be  upon  a  permanent  basis.  If  I  lived  in  a  palace  far  more 
glorious  than  Aladdin  ever  dreamed  of,  but  if  I  knew  that  it  was 
liable  to  be  blown  down  by  every  night's  wind,  I  should  have 
very  little  happiness  in  it.  Or,  if  I  occupied  a  situation  with  a 
stipend  however  large,  knowing  that  another  was  likely  to  dis- 
lodge me  the  next  day,  I  could  not  have  very  great  enjoyment  in 
it.  Or,  if  I  had  beauty  which  was  liable  every  moment  to  fade, 
or  health  every  instant  to  be  weakened,  then  I  could  have  no  real 
happiness  in  these,  because  of  the  uncertainty  and  precariousness 
of  the  source  of  that  happiness.  There  must,  therefore,  be  in 
the  happiness  which  meets  my  soul  and  satisfies  that  soul,  a  per- 
manent basis.  Can  that  be  happiness  which  will  not  stand  one 
beam  of  eternity  ?  —  that  is  dissipated  the  instant  that  the  light 
of  the  judgment-seat  touches  it?  —  that  flourishes  only  in  the 


454  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

dark,  and  can  live  only  where  there  is  no  light  ? — that  refuses  to 
look  at  heaven,  at  responsibility,  at  God,  at  eternity,  because  con- 
scious it  would  be  disturbed  and  dislodged  by  it  ?  Yet,  such  is 
the  world's  happiness,  which  is  only  another  name  for  wretched- 
ness. 

The  natural  man  therefore  is  "  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked,  and 
miserable."  And  to  crown  his  calamity,  to  increase  the  intensity 
of  his  misfortune  to  the  highest  pitch,  "he  knows  it  not." 
"  Thou  knowest  not  that  thou  art  blind,  and  naked,  and  misera- 
ble, and  wretched." 

Now  having  seen  what  is  our  state  by  nature,  let  us  listen  to 
Christ's  counsel ;  the  best  advice  that  was  ever  given  —  the  ad- 
vice that,  like  all  good  advice,  is  freely  given,  but  so  seldom  taken. 
"  I  counsel  thee  to  buy  of  me  gold  tried  in  the  fire."  How 
gracious  are  these  words !  He  does  not  say,  "  I  command  thee," 
nor  "  I  threaten  you,"  but  in  a  truly  evangelical  formula,  "  I 
counsel  thee."  Herein  is  the  difference  between  the  commands 
of  the  law  and  the  commands  of  the  Gospel.  In  the  law  it  is 
the  language  of  a  severe  legislator,  "thou  shalt,"  and  "thou 
shalt  not;"  "do,  and  live;"  "do  not,  and  die."  But  in  the 
Gospel  the  command  is  embosomed  in  the  benediction,  and 
crowned  with  the  promise.  The  command  is  conveyed  to  us  in  a 
shape  that  is  sweet  to  the  heart,  and  musical  to  the  ear :  it  is  not 
said,  "Be  pure,"  "  Be  hungry  after  righteousness,"  "Be  meek;" 
but  there  is  first  pronounced  the  blessing  that  introduces  to  the 
duty,  and  then  the  duty  is  crowned  with  the  promise,  "  Blessed 
are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God ;"  "  Blessed  are  the 
meek,  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth ;"  the  blessing  introducing 
the  command,  and  the  promise  crowning  that  command.  So  here 
our  Lord,  as  a  friend,  says,  "  I  counsel  you,"  I  beseech  you,  as 
one  that  sympathises  with  you, — not  to  continue  in  that  state 
which  must  end  in  your  everlasting  ruin ;  but  to  accept  that  pro- 
vision which  is  freely  offered  to  you,  and  which  must  end  in  your 
eternal  happiness."  "  I  counsel  thee  to  buy  of  me  gold  tried  in 
the  fire,  that  thou  mayest  be  rich."  Incomparable  riches  are 
"  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ,"  as  they  are  called  in  another 
place — those  riches  of  which  Solomon  speaks,  when  he  says, 
"  The  merchandise  of  it  is  better  than  the  merchandise  of  silver, 


DIVINE  COUNSEL,  455 

and  the  gain  thereof  than  fine  gold ;  it  is  more  precious  than 
rubies,  and  all  things  that  thou  canst  desire  are  not  to  be  com- 
pared unto  it."  And  such  riches  —  the  riches  of  pardon,  the 
riches  of  sanetification,  the  riches  of  redemption,  the  riches  of 
peace,  the  riches  of  holiness — are  alone  satisfying. 

I  have  told  you  that  man's  soul  cannot  be  satisfied  with  any- 
thing upon  earth.  By  a  great  law  of  his  nature,  it  must  be  so. 
But  here  is  that  which  will  satisfy  man's  soul.  "  He  that  lovCth 
silver,"  it  is  said,  "  shall  not  be  satisfied  with  silver."  You  will 
always  find  that  such  is  the  case.  A  man's  first  wish  perhaps  is, 
"  Oh  that  I  had  only  100?.  a-year ;"  he  thinks  he  might  be  com- 
fortable on  that;  and  when  he  has  it,  he  wishes  it  double;  and 
when  he  has  thousands  a-year,  what  does  he  wish  then  ?  he  wishes 
that  he  were  only  a  baronet ;  and  then  he  wishes  he  were  some- 
thing greater  still ;  verifying  at  every  stage  of  his  rise  this  state- 
ment of  the  wise  man,  "  He  that  loveth  silver  shall  not  be  satis- 
fied with  silver."  It  may  be  written  upon  all  the  coronets  of 
Europe,  the  brightest  that  are  worn ;  and  upon  all  the  crowns  of 
emperors,  and  kings,  and  queens,  the  most  weighty  that  are 
around  royal  brows :  upon  your  wealth,  your  honours,  your 
amusements,  and  upon  all  that  man  loves,  and  with  which  he 
tries  to  supersede  his  duties  and  responsibilities  to  God,  "Whoso 
drinketh  of  this  water  shall  thirst  again ;"  but  upon  real,  living 
religion,  upon  pardon,  holiness,  peace,  on  the  Bible  that  reveals 
them,  it  may  be,  and  it  is,  written,  "  Whoso  drinketh  of  this 
water  that  I  shall  give  him,  shall  never  thirst,  but  it  shall  be  in 
him  a  well  of  water  springing  up  into  everlasting  life."  It  is 
when  the  taper-lights  of  time  begin  to  grow  dim,  that  the  lights 
of  glory  shine  so  resplendently  upon  us ;  it  is  when  the  springs 
of  this  world  are  dry,  that  the  fountain  of  living  waters  overflows ; 
it  is  when  the  music  of  this  world  is  hushed,  that  the  sweet 
sounds  of  our  Father's  voice  ring  so  musically  in  our  hearing. 
The  enjoyments  and  the  pleasures  of  this  world  are  like  brooks 
which  dry  up  in  the  summer  heat,  just  when  most  we  want  them ; 
but  the  joys,  the  pleasures,  the  happiness  of  real  religion  are  like 
the  streams  that  come  down  from  the  Alpine  glaciers,  where  the 
avalanche  sleeps    perpetually,  which    flow  deepest,  coolest,  and 


456  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

clearest  in  summer  time,  when  all  other  brooks  and  streams  around 
are  dry. 

Such  is  human  happiness  when  it  is  based  upon  human  things ; 
and  such  is  human  happiness  when  it  is  based  upon  divine  things. 
And  I  may  add,  that  the  gold  and  silver,  the  wealth,  here  spoken 
of,  differs  from  all  other  possessions,  inasmuch  as  the  latter  have 
not  an  enduring  basis.  This  world's  wealth,  by  a  mysterious 
power,  can  put  forth  wings  and  take  flight  without  notice ;  but 
that  world's  wealth  has  no  wings  wherewith  to  fly  away,  but  he 
who  possesses  it  is  unchangeably  rich.  In  this  world's  wealth, 
the  fig-tree  may  fail  to  blossom,  there  may  be  no  fruit  on  the  vine 
and  no  herd  in  the  stall;  but  of  that  world's  wealth  it  is  true 
that  it  endureth  for  ever.  Of  this  world's  wealth  it  may  be  said, 
"  Thou  fool ;  this  night  thy  soul  shall  be  required  of  thee ;  then 
whose  shall  those  things  be  V  but  of  these  better  riches,  it  is 
written  that  they  are  unsearchable  and  unspeakable,  and  can 
never  be  taken  from  us  by  tliief  or  robber  breaking  through  to 
steal  them.  It  is  here  also  declared  of  this  wealth  which  Christ 
counsels  us  to  buy,  that  it  is  "  tried."  What  is  the  greatest  re- 
commendation to  a  man  when  he  is  a  candidate  for  any  situation  ? 
That  he  is  a  "tried  man."  What  is  the  best  recommendation 
of  a  ship  that  is  to  bear  you  across  the  Atlantic  ?  That  it  has 
buffeted  many  a  storm,  and  landed  many  a  freight  in  safety  on 
the  other  side.  And  what  is  the  greatest  recommendation  that 
can  be  given  to  these  unsearchable  riches,  to  this  heavenly  gold, 
to  these  everlasting  blessings  ?  They  are  tried  !  men  have  tried 
them,  and  have  never  been  disappointed.  These  unsearchable 
riches,  this  fine  gold,  Luther  tried,  and  found  it  sustain  him  in 
the  cell,  the  market-place,  before  the  council ;  while  preaching, 
while  living,  while  dying.  Jeremiah  tried  it,  and  he  could  sing 
psalms  in  the  deep  dungeon  in  which  tyranny  had  placed  him. 
John  tried  it ;  and  when  in  the  desert  isle  of  Patmos,  he  saw 
pass  before  him  a  panorama  of  splendour,  of  beauty,  and  of  glory, 
the  dim  rays  of  which  are  still  so  glorious.  John  Bunyan  tried 
it  when  in  a  prison,  and  he  found  it  sustain  and  comfort  him,  for 
he  has  declared  that  his  happiest  days  were  spent  in  the  gaol, 
when  the  pilgrim  in  the  fancy  of  the  prisoner  in  the  cell,  was 
his  only  companion.     All  this  leads  to  the  old  conclusion^  that 


DIVINE  COUNSEL.  457 

the  secret  of  a  man's  happiness  is  not  in  what  he  has,  but  in 
what  he  is;  and  the  true  way,  the  Christian  way  to  improve 
mankind,  is  not  to  change  their  circumstances,  but  to  change 
their  hearts.  It  is  not  the  beautiful  home  that  makes  the  happy 
heart ;  but  it  is  the  happy  heart  that  makes  the  beautiful  home  : 
it  is  not  what  is  around  the  man,  but  what  is  within  the  man, 
that  is  the  secret  of  joy,  satisfaction,  and  peace  :  and  most  men 
who  complain  of  want  of  happiness  in  this  world  are  very  much 
like  a  traveller  with  a  thorn  in  his  foot ;  he  complains  of  tho 
roughness  of  the  road,  and  thinks,  if  it  were  only  macadamized, 
how  quickly  and  agreeably  he  should  get  along,  and  forgets  that 
the  secret  of  his  slow  progress,  and  the  source  of  his  pain,  are 
not  in  the  roughness  of  the  road,  but  in  the  thorn  in  the  foot 
that  walks  the  road. 

Our  Lord  then  says,  Come,  see  this  gold,  this  unsearchable 
riches,  this  tried  gold,  and  '*  buy  of  me."  But  you  say,  "  How 
are  we  to  buy  ?  the  very  word  seems  to  crush  all  hope  of  obtain- 
ing." The  answer  is,  the  word  "buy,"  in  our  old  English, 
means  not  "to  purchase,"  but  "to  bring  near."  The  strict 
meaning  of  "  buy"  is,  "  to  bring  nigh ;"  and  such  is  the  mean- 
ing of  the  word  in  the  passage,  "  Come,  buy  wine  and  milk  with- 
out money  and  without  price."  The  word  is  used  to  denote  that 
the  thing  is  precious,  because  men  pay  only  for  that  which  is 
precious;  and  hence  you  find  that  men  prize  the  most  valuable 
things  only  when  they  pay  for  them.  If  Bibles  are  given  away 
gratis,  the  probability  is,  that  in  the  course  of  a  week  you  will 
find  them  sold  or  pledged.  Make  them  pay  a  penny  a-week  for 
their  Bibles,  and  they  are  valued,  kept,  and  used.  The  word 
"buy,"  therefore,  is  applied  to  this  fine  gold — to  real,  living 
religion,  to  pardon,  to  holiness,  to  happiness,  to  peace,  in  order  to 
denote  the  preciousness  of  it;  and  it  means,  have  it,  bring  it  near 
to  you,  at  whatever  sacrifice ;  if  it  require  the  sacrifice  of  time,  the 
sacrifice  of  labour,  of  watchfulness,  the  surrender  of  a  right  hand, 
or  the  pulling  out  of  a  right  eye, — at  all  hazards,  at  all  sacrifices, 
get  possession  of  that  gold,  that  fine  gold  which  is  tried  in  the 
fire ;  which  alone  can  make  you  unspeakably,  because  eternally, 
happy.  You  are  told  where  the  market  or  the  sale  is;  "buy  of 
me :"  it  is  not  said  you  are  to  go  to  the  priest,  or  to  the  saint,  or 

39 


458  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

to  the  angel  to  purchase  it,  but  "  buy  of  me."  No  priest,  pres- 
byter, or  prelate  in  Christendom  has  anything  to  spare  for  you. 
Each  has  just  enough  for  himself.  And  when  we  speak  of  him 
that  becomes  a  Christian  as  instantly  becoming  a  missionary,  and 
him  that  receives  as  instantly  feeling  it  his  duty  to  give,  we  do 
not  mean  that  a  Christian  can  part  with  any  portion  of  the  grace 
of  God  he  has  in  his  heart,  so  as  to  give  that  portion  to  a  brother, 
a  sister,  a  friend,  a  neighbour.  We  have  nothing  to  spare  for 
another  of  the  grace  which  God  has  given  us.  What  we  can 
spare  is  only  advice,  instruction  —  just  what  the  wise  virgins 
spared  ito  the  foolish  when  they  said,  *'  Go  unto  them  that  sell." 
Buy  of  Christ  the  fine  gold  that  is  tried  in  the  fire,  in  order  that 
you  may  be  rich.  He  is  the  only  fountain ;  his  is  the  only  mar- 
ket; and  from  him  alone  can  we  receive  grace  and  glory,  and  all 
good  things. 

But  it  is  added  also,  that  you  are  to  buy  of  him,  not  only  gold 
that  you  may  be  rich,  but  "  white  raiment,  that  you  may  be 
clothed."  What  "  white  raiment"  is  this  ?  We  have  an  allusion 
to  it  in  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son ;  "  Bring  forth  the  best 
robe,  and  put  it  on  him  :"  it  is  literally  translated,  "  Bring  forth 
that  robe,  the  best  one,  and  put  it  on  him."  It  is  also  described 
in  such  words  as  these,  "  raiment  white  and  clean,  which  is  the 
righteousness  of  saints."  We  have  it  in  such  advice  as  this, 
"  Put  on  Christ ;"  and  again  in  such  a  name  as  this,  *'  The  Lord 
our  righteousness."  It  denotes,  therefore,  the  acceptance  of  that 
righteousness  which  is  the  privilege  oiFered  to  all,  and  the  pos- 
session of  that  righteousness  which  alone  is  the  Christian's  right 
to  glory  and  title  to  heaven.  My  dear  friends,  the  Gospel  is  not 
a  diluted  law ;  it  is  as  true  at  this  moment  as  it  was  when  the  law 
was  pronounced  amid  the  thunders,  and  revealed  amid  the  light- 
nings of  Sinai,  "  Present  a  perfect  righteousness,  and  you  shall 
be  saved;  present  an  imperfect  righteousness,  and  you  shall  be 
lost  for  ever."  God  demands  of  you  and  of  me  to-day,  the  very 
same  righteousness  that  he  demanded  from  the  first  —  perfect 
obedience,  or  irreparable  and  irreversible  ruin ;  but  the  difference 
lies  here  ;  when  he  asked  that  righteousness  of  Adam,  Adam  had 
to  prepare  and  present  it  in  his  own  personal  standing  as  an  obe- 
dient creature,  in  order  to  entitle  him  to  the  reward.     We,  on 


DIVINE  COUNSEL,  459 

the  other  hand,  knowing  and  feeling  that  we  have  no  such  right- 
eousness, accept  a  righteousness  already  made,  and  present  that 
righteousness  as  our  perfect  title  to  heaven.  It  is  not  true  that 
"  do  and  live"  is  now  reversed  by  an  equivalent  "  believe  and 
live."  Faith  is  no  more  my  title  to  heaven  than  work  is.  The 
distinction  is  this :  Faith  receives  the  righteousness  now ;  man 
performed  that  righteousness  of  old.  Under  the  law,  I  should 
have  to  he  righteous  that  I  might  be  justified;  under  the  Gospel 
I  have  to  accept  righteousness  that  I  may  be  justified.  And  this 
righteousness  is  revealed  in  such  a  passage  as  this;  "He  that 
knew  no  sin  was  made  sin  for  us,"  that  our  sins  being  laid  upon 
him,  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  by  him,  his 
righteousness  being  laid  upon  us.  Christ  wore  our  polluted  rags, 
and  endured  the  agony  and  the  cross ;  we  wear  his  spotless,  seam- 
less, perfect  robe,  and  we  inherit  his  everlasting  peace,  joy,  and 
felicity.  Just  as  it  was  righteous  in  God  to  pour  down  the  ex- 
pressions of  his  wrath  upon  the  innocent  Lamb,  because  he  wore 
our  tainted  fleece,  so  it  will  be  but  faithful  and  just  in  God  to 
pour  down  upon  us  the  expressions  of  his  love,  because  we,  the 
stray  sheep,  wear  the  spotless  fleece  of  that  holy  and  immaculate 
Lamb.  Jesus  was  not  a  sinner  when  he  died  :  we  shall  not  be 
personally  righteous  and  worthy  when  we  live.  There  was  no 
demerit  in  him  when  he  drank  the  cup  of  that  curse  to  its  dregs ; 
and  there  will  be  no  merit  in  us  when  we  drink  the  cup  of  that 
blessing  for  ever  and  ever.  He  suffered  because  of  others'  sins ; 
we  shall  be  saved  because  of  another's  righteousness :  thus  the 
law  shall  have  had  its  due,  and  yet  we  alone  inherit  all  the  joy, 
while  Christ,  and  Christ  alone,  shall  have  all  the  glory.  Like 
Levites  in  their  spotless  robes,  we  shall  tread  the  floor  of  that 
grand  temple ;  like  true  patricians,  we  shall  walk  with  him  in 
white ;  like  kings  and  conquerors,  we  shall  sit  with  him  on  his 
throne,  even  as  he  also  overcame  and  sat  down  with  his  Father 
on  his  throne. 

And  then,  adds  the  great  adviser,  "Anoint  thine  eyes  with 
eye-salve,  that  thou  mayest  see."  He  pronounced  the  church 
poor,  he  bids  her  take  wealth ;  he  pronounced  the  church  wretch- 
ed, he  bids  her  take  happiness ;  he  pronounced  her  blind,  he  bids 
her  take  light.     Are  we  then  blind  ?     It  is  implied  that  we  are 


460  THE  CHUECH  OF  LAOWCEA. 

SO  from  such  a  passage  as  this,  "  That  the  eyes  of  your  under- 
standing being  enlightened  :"  and  the  Psalmist  says,  "  Open  thou 
mine  eyes,  that  I  may  behold  wondrous  things  out  of  thy  law." 
The  Evangelist  John  writes,  in  one  of  his  epistles,  "But  the 
anointing  which  ye  have  received  of  him  abideth  in  you."  And 
again,  the  prophet  promises,  "  All  thy  children  shall  be  taught 
of  God,  and  great  shall  be  the  peace  of  thy  children." 

Now  here  is  the  distinction  between  a  man-taught,  or  priest- 
taught,  and  a  God-taught  person.  The  man-taught  person  never 
rises  higher  than  the  priest,  the  ceremony,  the  sacrament,  the 
church.  The  God-taught  person  comes  to  Christ ;  "  He  that  is 
taught  of  God  cometh  unto  me,"  says  our  Lord.  A  stream  never 
can  rise  higher  than  its  source.  Let  a  rivulet  start  at  a  thousand 
feet  high,  and  it  will  rise  to  that  level  again  :  and  so  a  religion 
from  man  rises  only  to  man ;  a  religion  from  the  priest  rises  again 
to  the  priest;  a  religion  from  the  church  carries  itself  only  to  the 
church  again ;  a  religion  from  God  lifts  a  man  above  the  priest, 
the  church,  the  ceremony,  and  leaves  him  not  till  he  basks  in  the 
splendours  of  the  beatific  vision,  and  in  the  presence,  and  amid 
the  glory  of  God.  The  eye-salve  that  is  here  spoken  of  is  called 
in  another  place,  "  the  unction  of  the  Holy  One."  The  ointment 
which  was  prepared  for  the  high  priest  of  old  was  an  ointment 
which  it  was  blasphemy  to  imitate,  and  he  who  ventured  to  imitate 
it  was  put  to  death.  This  eye-salve  is,  no  doubt,  the  Holy  Spirit 
of  God.  I  know  no  stronger  proof  of  the  dreadful  corruption  of 
which  man  is  the  victim  by  the  fall  than  this  fact,  that  it  needs 
not  ooly  a  God  to  redeem  him,  but  a  God  to  convince  him  that 
he  is  redeemable  at  all.  Men  ask  you.  Where  is  a  text  to  show 
that  man  is  corrupt  ?  I  answer,  here  is  the  evidence ;  In  vain 
God  has  bowed  the  heavens  to  open  my  grave  j  God  must  again 
bow  the  heavens  to  open  my  understanding  to  believe  it.  It 
needs  not  only  my  God  in  my  nature  to  redeem  me  from  the 
curse ;  but  it  needs  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  is  God,  to  come  into 
my  bosom  and  persuade  me  to  accept  of  the  redemption  that  is 
offered  me  "without  money  and  without  price." 

Never  forget  this,  my  dear  friends,  that  we  can  never  pray, 
nor  preach,  nor  hear,  nor  feel,  nor  know,  nor  make  one  step  in 


DIVINE  COUNSEL.  461 

the  right  and  upward  direction,  until  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  en- 
lightens and  sanctifies  and  directs  us. 

I  pray  that  you  may  have  this  eye-salve,  that  you  may  possess 
"  this  unction  of  the  Holy  One ;"  that  you  may  see  your  pride  to 
be  your  shame,  your  beauty  to  be  your  deformity,  your  glory  to 
be  but  dust,  your  strength  to  be  but  weakness,  your  wisdom  folly. 
Pray  that  you  may  have  this  eye-salve,  this  Holy  Spirit;  that 
you  may  see  sin  to  be  the  evil,  the  only  evil  in  the  whole  universe 
of  God ;  that  you  may  see  holiness  to  be  the  chief  beauty ;  living 
religion  to  be  the  purest  happiness;  enthusiastic  devotion  to 
Christ  to  be  the  greatest  moderation  and  the  gravest  wisdom. 
Pray  that  you  may  see  your  soul  to  be  precious,  your  Bible  pre- 
cious, your  Saviour  to  be,  if  possible,  more  precious  still.  Pray 
that  you  may  be  led  to  see  this,  if  you  see  no  more ; — no  infalli- 
ble directory  but  the  word  of  God;  no  atoning  or  expiatory  virtue 
anywhere  but  in  the  cross  and  passion  of  Christ ;  no  regenerative 
or  sanctifying  or  quickening  power  but  in  the  Spirit  of  God ;  no 
way  to  heaven  but  that  of  which  Christ  is  the  door;  no  fitness 
for  heaven  but  that  of  which  the  Spirit  of  God  is  the  author, 
and  no  obstruction  to  your  instant  peace  with  God  but  what  is  in 
yourselves. 


"'Tis  thine  to  cleanse  the  heart, 
To  sanctify  the  soul, 
To  pour  fresh  life  in  every  part, 
And  new  create  the  whole. 

"Dwell,  Spirit,  in  our  hearts. 

Our  minds  from  bondage  free; 
Then  shall  we  know,  and  praise   and  lore, 
The  Father,  Son,  and  Thee." 


39* 


LECTURE  XXX. 


SOVEREIGN    LOVE. 

"  As  many  as  I  love,  I  rebake  and  chasten." — Rev.  iii.  19. 

These  words  are  part  of  the  epistle  to  the  Church  of  Laodicea. 
They  are  addressed  to  her  immediately  after  the  counsel  which 
the  Lord  had  given  her  to  buy  of  him  "  gold  tried  in  the  fire 
that  she  might  be  rich ;"  and  in  order  to  comfort  those  in  the 
midst  of  her  who  were  the  people  of  God,  amid  the  fiery  trial  to 
which  she  was  to  be  soon  subjected,  God  tells  her,  "As  many  as 
I  love,  I  rebuke  and  chasten."  Mr.  Winslow,  in  a  very  excellent 
work  called  "  Grace  and  Truth,"  makes  the  following  remark  on 
this  text :  "  Had  we  not  a  *  thus  saith  the  Lord'  for  this  truth, 
its  greatness  would  render  it  incredible."  Christ  loves  us,  and 
because  he  loves  us,  he  does  not  let  us  alone.  Is  it  then  true 
that  we  are  loved  of  Christ  ?  that  we  sinners  are  loved  in  spite 
of  our  sins,  loved  of  Christ  ?  His  manger,  his  cross,  his  passion, 
his  agony,  and  his  bloody  sweat,  are  all  the  evidence  of  this  one 
proposition,  "Christ  loved  us."  Every  fact  in  the  Saviour's 
history — every  sermon  that  he  preached — every  bright  incident 
that  broke  forth  in  his  life — every  circumstance  that  surrounded 
him,  are  additional  evidence  that  he  loved  us.  Nor  when  we 
come  to  the  last  scene  of  his  sad  and  awful  biography,  is  there 
less  proof  of  his  love.  The  patience  of  the  victim — the  forbear- 
ance of  the  Almighty — the  fact  that  no  earthquake  swallowed  up 
the  murderers  of  the  Lord  of  Glory, — that  no  lightning  smote 
and  no  thunderbolt  blasted  them  —  the  awful  eclipse  that 
shrouded  all,  in  which  no  word  was  uttered  but  love — the  awful 
silence  that  pervaded  all  in  which  no  accent  was  audible  but  love, 

(462) 


80VEKEIGN  LOVE.  463 

are  eloquent  and  decisive  evidences  of  his  own  assertion,  for 
which,  to  quote  the  language  of  the  author  to  whom  I  have 
alluded,  we  have  a  "  thus  saith  the  Lord" — "  As  many  as  I  love, 
I  rebuke  and  chasten." 

Having  ascertained  the  fact  that  Christ  loves  us,  let  us  try  to 
ascertain  the  nature  of  his  love,  by  its  characteristics.  I  will  not 
dwell  on  them ;  I  will  briefly,  but  as  distinctly  as  possible,  re- 
capitulate them.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  an  everlasting  love. 
Christ's  love  to  us  was  not  a  sudden  impulse  that  rose  within  his 
mind  under  some  sudden  influence,  and,  like  man's,  evaporated 
when  he  had  expressed  it;  but  it  was  an  uncreated,  and,  literally 
and  strictly,  an  everlasting  spring  in  the  bosom  of  God.  "I 
have  loved  thee,"  he  says,  "  with  an  everlasting  love ;  therefore 
with  loving-kindness  have  I  drawn  thee."  How  grand  is  this 
truth !  that  we,  sinners  saved,  are  the  subjects  of  a  love  that 
glowed  and  burned,  and  panted  for  its  egress  before  the  worlds 
were  created,  or  the  angels  sung  together  for  joy  at  the  completion 
of  the  once  beautiful  works  of  God  !  Secondly,  it  is  an  unfailing 
love.  It  rose  from  the  depths  of  eternity,  and  it  will  roll  into 
the  depths  of  eternity  again.  It  lasts  while  God  reigns  and  ages 
roll.  It  can  never  be  exhausted;  when  it  has  overflowed  and 
overwhelmed,  if  I  may  so  speak,  the  greatest  number  of  the 
greatest  sinners,  it  still  is  unexhausted,  as  much  as  if  it  had  never 
flowed  forth  at  all.  He  himself  has  told  us,  "  a  woman  may  for- 
get her  babe,  that  she  should  not  have  compassion  on  the  son  of 
her  womb,  yet  will  not  I  forget  thee."  In  the  third  place,  it  is 
a  sovereign  love.  .  When  God  loves,  he  loves  as  God ;  when  a 
creature  loves,  he  loves  as  a  creature.  A  creature  loves  an  object, 
because  in  the  object  he  sees  something  beautiful  or  good  ;  God 
loves  an  object  though  in  it  there  be  nothing  good,  in  order  to 
make  it,  by  his  creative  power,  alike  beautiful  and  good.  Our 
love  is  created  within  us  by  an  object  without  us;  God's  love  is 
sovereign.  We  love  the  beautifiil  and  good  because  they  are  so ; 
God  loves  the  guilty  and  the  depraved  in  order  to  make  them 
what  they  should  be. 

This  love,  in  the  fourth  place,  is  a  distinguishing  love.  There 
is  one  fact  in  the  Bible  which  has  always  in  some  degree  per- 
plexed me ;  and  the  more  I  think  of  it,  the  less  am  I  able  to 


464  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

comprehend  or  explain  it :  Why  did  Christ  in  his  love  pass  by 
the  higher  nature,  the  angelic,  that  fell,  and  seize  in  its  saving 
grasp  the  lower  nature,  humanity,  that  also  fell  ?  There  is  no 
answer  to  this  question,  except  such  as  is  supplied  by  the  charac- 
teristic I  have  specified ;  it  is  a  distinguishing  love  :  of  this  we 
must  say  to  Jesus  just  what  he  said  to  his  Father,  "  Even  so,  for 
thus  it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight." 

In  the  next  place,  Christ's  love  to  us  is  a  costly  love.  It  cost 
an  infinite  descent,  unspeakable  travail,  agony,  and  death :  he 
endured  the  cross  —  he  drank  our  curse  —  he  bore  our  burden 
in  his  own  body  on  the  tree — he  expressed  the  intensity  of  his 
love  by  the  agony  of  his  suffering  for  us ;  we  can  only  estimate 
the  greatness  of  the  price  he  paid  by  the  portion  of  it  we  can 
count.  It  was  not  by  gold  or  silver,  or  any  such  corruptible 
thing,  but  by  his  own  precious  blood  that  he  redeemed :  "  Ye 
are  bought  with  a  price," — "a  price,"  as  if  all  in  the  world  were 
not  even  worthy  of  the  word  "  price." 

The  next  characteristic  of  this  love  is,  unchangeable.  The 
love  of  the  Saviour  is  the  "same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for 
ever;"  it  never  changes.  If  his  love  were  to  fluctuate  and 
change  with  the  ebbs  and  flows  of  our  love  to  him,  we  should 
have  been  cast  off'  long  ere  now.  But  he  loved  us  in  our  ruin ; 
and  our  after  unworthiness,  criminal  as  it  is,  has  not  lessened 
that  love.  He  loved  us  in  spite  of  our  sins  at  the  first,  and  he 
will  love  us  still  in  spite  of  our  sins ;  and  having  loved  us  from 
the  first,  he  will  love  us  to  the  last.  He  is  the  unchangeable 
God :  he  changes  not,  therefore  we  sons  of  Jacob  are  not  con- 
sumed. 

But,  it  may  be  asked,  who  are  these  whom  he  thus  loves? 
They  are  known  by  various  names  in  the  nomenclature  of  man  ; 
distinguished  sometimes  by  epithets  that  are  good,  stained  at 
other  times  by  others  that  are  evil :  but  whatever  be  their  dis- 
tinctions among  men,  they  have  but  one  feature  and  one  relation- 
ship before  Grod — they  are  the  sons  of  God — ^they  believe  on  the 
name  of  his  Son  Christ  Jesus.  They  are  called  "  the  elect,"  if  you 
like ;  the  justified,  the  sanctified,  the  adopted,  the  sons,  the  heirs 
of  God.  All  these  are  but  the  varied  names  of  the  same  distin- 
goiahed  and  happy  class,  who  are  the  objects  of  this  love,  and 


SOVEREIGN  LOVE.  4(35 

come  under  its  influence  by  the  exercise  of  faith,  or  trust,  or  con- 
fidence in  the  word  of  the  Father,  and  in  the  testimony  of  Christ 
Jesus. 

Seeing  that  to  be  the  objects  of  this  love  is  so  precious,  can  I 
prove  that  God  the  Saviour  thus  loves  me  ?  Have  we  any  evi- 
dence within  us,  or  any  fact  without  us,  or  anything  to  which  we 
can  appeal,  that  will  satisfy  our  minds  that  we  are  the  objects  of 
this  love  ?  Let  me  reply,  that  the  first  question,  and  the  prin- 
cipal question  we  have  to  ask,  is  not,  Why  should  we  be  the 
objects  of  this  love  ?  but.  Why  should  we  not  be  the  objects  of 
this  love  ?  Did  Christ  die  for  ginners  ?  Then  why  not  me  ?  Did 
he  suffer  and  bleed  for  the  chiefest  of  sinners  ?  Then  why  not 
for  us?  Did  he  love  Peter,  and  Mary  Magdalen,  and  the  perse- 
cuting Paul  ?  Did  he  wash  them  in  his  blood,  and  clothe  them 
in  his  righteousness,  and  turn  them,  one  from  a  persecutor  into  a 
preacher,  and  the  other  from  being  a  grievous  sinner  into  a 
daughter  of  God  ?  Then  why  should  I  conclude  he  has  retreated 
from  me  ?  Is  there  anything  peculiar  in  me  that  excludes  me  ? 
any  reason  in  the  heights,  or  any  reason  in  the  depths,  why  I 
should  not  be  the  object  of  the  love  of  God?  There  is  none. 
Our  own  suspicion,  unbelief,  rebellion,  alone  wilfully  and  efioc- 
tually  intercept  mercy  from  God.  It  is  not  our  sin,  but  our  dis- 
belief of  the  Saviour's  sufiiciency,  and  refusal  to  lay  our  sins  at 
his  feet,  that  ruins  us.  "  Believe  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,"  is 
addressed  by  the  Saviour  to  every  creature  that  hears  it.  If  we 
be  not  saved  it  is  because  we  will  not.  But  the  best  evidence 
that  Christ  loves  us  is  the  simple  experience  that  we  love  him. 
The  inner  is  the  proof  of  the  outer, — the  print  is  the  evidence  of 
the  original  painting.  The  true  way  to  know  if  I  am  in  God's 
secret  book  that  is  in  heaven,  is  to  read  my  heart  and  conscience 
in  the  light  of  God's  revealed  book  that  is  on  earth.  Do  I  wish 
to  know  if  God  has  elected  me  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  ? 
it  is  very  easy  to  answer.  To  determine  whether  I  am  an  elect 
child  or  not,  is  not  at  all  a  difficult  question  :  it  may  be  deter- 
mined by  asking  another ;  Have  I  elected  God  tc  be  my  Father, 
Christ  to  be  my  Saviour,  the  Holy  Spirit  to  be  my  Sanctifier; 
Fathei-,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  to  be  my  portion  for  ever?  If  you 
have  elected  him,  it  is  absolutely  certain  that  he  has  elected  you; 


466  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

for  the  evidence  of  his  election  of  you  is  your  election  of  him. 
The  first  is  the  original,  the  second  is  the  echo ;  the  first  the  im- 
pulse or  attraction,  the  second  the  response  to  that  attraction.  As 
surely  as  the  shadow  indicates  the  existence  of  the  substance — as 
surely  as  the  echo  indicates  the  existence  of  the  prior  sound,  so 
surely  your  personal  choice  or  election  of  Christ  indicates  his 
election  of  you.  Or,  to  vary  the  words  but  not  the  meaning,  if 
you  love  him,  it  is  absolutely  certain  that  he  loves  you  j  or,  to  use 
the  language  of  Scripture,  "  we  love  him"  for  this  reason,  and 
for  no  other  reason  upon  earth,  "  because  he  first  loved  us."  Our 
love  to  him  is  the  response  that  we  render  to  his  prior  love  to  us, 
poured  into  our  hearts.  No  man  ever  loved  the  Saviour  who 
was  not  loved  by  the  Saviour.  Therefore  it  is  not  difficult  to  de- 
termine whether  you  are  loved  by  the  Saviour.  First  determine 
this  simple  fact,  whether  you  love  him.  But,  you  ask.  How  shall 
I  determine  it  ?  Let  me  enumerate,  not  enlarge  on,  the  criteria 
by  which  you  may  determine  whether  you  love  Christ.  If  you 
love  him,  you  will  often  think  of  him.  You  have  spent  six  days 
since  Sabbath  last ;  on  what  days,  and  how  often,  did  any  thought 
flit  across  your  minds,  about  the  preciousness  of  the  blood,  the 
excellency  of  the  salvation  of  Christ  ?  How  often  did  you  think 
of  God,  the  Saviour,  the  soul,  eternity,  during  last  week  ?  De- 
pend upon  it,  my  dear  friends,  that  which  has  the  deepest  hold 
of  our  hearts,  we  shall  dream  of  by  night,  and  we  shall  think  of 
by  day :  and  if  the  thought  of  God,  a  Saviour,  eternity,  never 
comes  across  your  minds  in  the  midst  of  your  shops,  your  ware- 
houses, your  walks,  in  the  bye-paths  of  private,  and  in  the  high- 
ways of  public  life,  it  should  make  you  search  and  see  if  you  are 
losing  or  loving  Christ.  Does  the  miser  fail  to  think  of  his  wealth  ? 
or  the  mother,  of  her  babe  in  her  bosom  ?  Does  a  maid  forget 
her  ornaments,  or  a  bride  her  attire  ?  Then  will  he  who  feels 
that  he  is  the  subject  of  so  stupendous,  so  sovereign,  so  un- 
changeable a  love  —  a  love  that  snatched  him  as  a  brand  from 
the  burning,  and  that  offers  to  plant  him  as  a  tree  in  the  paradise 
of  God,  forget  it.  Is  it  possible  that  we  can  believe  such  a  fact, 
and  be  the  subjects  of  such  a  love,  and  yet  that  no  thought  of  it 
should  ever  flit  or  flash  across  our  minds  amid  the  stir  and  the 
bustle  of  the  discharge  of  this  world's  duties  ?    Our  Christianity 


SOVEREIGN  LOVE.  467 

is  not  what  we  feel  when  we  sit  in  the  pews,  and  screw,  as  it 
were,  every  thought  and  feeling  into  a  sabbath-day  propriety,  or 
into  a  sabbath-day  attitude,  and  make  ourselves  look  Christians 
at  least;  but  the  evidences  of  our  Christian  love  are  those  random 
and  accidental  thoughts  that  rise  at  intervals  spontaneously  from 
the  depths  of  the  soul,  and  indicate  the  fervour  of  the  elements 
that  are  within,  by  their  brilliancy,  their  power,  and  frequency 
in  all  our  walks  and  ways  in  the  world. 

Do  you,  then,  I  ask  again,  ever  think  of  Christ?  Does  the 
thought  of  his  love  ever  cross  your  minds  amid  the  turmoil  and 
the  agitation  of  the  world  ?  Surely,  surely,  bad  as  we  are  — 
many  and  severe  as  the  world's  cares  may  be, — and  I  know  some 
of  you  say,  when  I  speak  of  the  cares,  the  troubles,  and  the 
anxieties  of  business,  Ah  !  little  does  he  know  what  they  are  !  I 
believe  they  are  bitter  and  oppressive  beyond  measure;  I  feel 
that  if  I  were  subject  to  them  as  you  are,  I  should  sink  under 
them, — but  still,  if  you  believe  your  Bibles,  surely  one  gleam  of 
what  the  Bible  is  so  eloquent  on,  will  flash  upon  the  ledger  and 
make  you  feel  that  amid  all  your  toil  and  drudgery,  there  is  re- 
tained and  beating  within  you  the  strong  sense  of  a  glorious  free- 
dom and  a  happy  home  in  store  for  you,  which  will  be  sweeter 
because  the  week-day's  toils  have  been  so  sore,  and  the  working 
day's  burden  so  heavy. 

If  you  love  Christ,  you  will  not  only  think  of  him  and  of  his 
love,  but  you  will  also  speak  of  him.  Now  tell  me,  fathers  in  this 
assembly,  do  you  ever  tell  your  children  that  there  is  a  Saviour  ? 
Do  you  ever  call  your  firstborn  to  your  knee,  and  say.  My  child, 
there  is  a  Saviour  that  loved  you,  and  bids  you  welcome  to  his 
bosom,  and  tells  us  to  "  suffer  you  to  come  to  him,  and  forbid 
you  not,  for  of  such  as  you  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Hus- 
bands, do  you  ever  speak  thus  to  your  wives  ?  It  is  a  strange 
thing  that  a  husband  will  speak  to  his  wife,  or  a  father  to  his 
children,  about  a  thousand  topics ;  but  both  fail  to  muster  cou- 
rage to  speak  to  each  other  about  God,  the  soul,  a  Saviour,  eter- 
nity. How  is  it  that  man  can  be  eloquent  about  trivial  matters ; 
dumb  about  glorious  and  ennobling  truths  ?  Depend  upon  it,  if 
there  be  a  burning  heart,  there  will  surely  be  eloquent  lips.  If 
we  fear  the  Lord  like  those  that  are  spoken  of  by  the  prophet, 


468  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

"  we  shall"  speak  often  one  to  another,  and  the  Lord's  book  of 
remembrance  will  record  that  we  have  done  so  in  that  day. 

In  the  next  place,  if  we  love  Christ  we  shall  act  and  live  cor- 
responding to  that  love.  What  are  those  proofs  of  love  that  I 
recapitulated  this  morning, — "  I  was  in  prison,  and  ye  visited 
me  :  I  was  sick,  and  ye  came  unto  me :  I  was  naked,  and  ye 
clothed  me  ?"  These  were  so  precious  because  their  tone,  their 
colouring,  their  fragrance,  all  come  from  love  to  the  Saviour.  If 
we  love  the  Saviour,  then  we  shall  show  that  love  by  what  we  seek, 
by  what  we  do,  by  what  we  give.  Now  did  you  ever  say,  as  you  put 
your  sovereign  or  your  five  pound  note,  or  your  ten  pound  note  into 
the  plate,  I  give  this,  because  Christ  loved  me  and  gave  himself 
for  me ;  I  give  this  as  the  evidence  of  the  existence  within  me 
of  a  love  to  him  that  prompts  me  to  give  to  his  cause  what  he 
has  given  me,  for  his  blessed  name's  sake  ?  But  after  all,  take 
that  bank  note,  that  sovereign,  and  read  it  again ;  if  the  eye  of 
sense  cannot  read  as  it  could  once,  beautifully  and  thankfully 
read,  ^^  Dei  Gratia,"  "by  the  grace  of  God,"  the  eye  of  faith 
can  read  upon  all  our  coins,  the  image  and  the  superscription  of 
Christ.  All  we  have  is  his — all  we  possess  is  from  him ;  and  if 
we  love  him  we  shall  consecrate  at  least  a  portion  of  it  to  his 
service  and  glory.  You  recollect  the  question  was  put  to  Peter, 
"  Lovest  thou  me  ?"  Then  what  would  be  the  evidence  of  it  ? 
"  Feed  my  sheep,"  "  Feed  my  lambs."  "  Preach  the  Gospel  to 
my  people ;  teach  the  Gospel  to  children."  I  believe  there  is 
not  a  more  self-sacrificing  office  in  London  than  that  of  a  Sunday- 
School  teacher.  Our  Lord  himself  says,  that  feeding  bis  lambs 
is  one  of  the  great  proofs  of  love  to  him ;  and  when  I  think  that 
the  young  men  in  this  metropolis  are  toiling  from  early  in  the 
morning  till  midnight,  everyday,  and  what  a  sacrifice  I  am  asking 
them  to  make,  though  love  may  make  it  light,  when  I  ask  them 
to  occupy  the  intervals  of  the  Sabbath  in  teaching  in  the  school, 
I  can  scarcely  find  it  in  my  heart  to  ask  them  to  become  teachers. 
It  is  asking  them  to  be,  in  their  degree,  martyrs,  and  to  undergo 
in  its  measure  a  sort  of  martyrdom.  When  I  see  young  men  who 
are  so  toiling  during  the  week,  ready  to  make  the  moral  self-sacri- 
fice of  occupying  the  interval  in  the  morning  and  evening  with 
teaching  in  our  schools,  I  bless  God  for  it ;  and  I  see  in  such 


SOVEREIGN  LOVE.  4^ 

self-sacrifice  the  evidence  of  love  earnest  and  true  behind  it.  If 
there  be  a  pulse  in  the  wrist,  you  may  be  sure  there  is  a  heart 
behind  it;  if  there  be  a  tangible  and  practical  expression  of  de- 
votedness  to  the  Saviour,  you  may  be  sure  there  is  a  heart  of  love 
behind  it ;  and  I  cannot  conceive  that  a  Sunday-School  teacher 
can  so  devote  himself  to  a  work,  often  thankless  and  unsatis- 
factory, often  ill-requited,  and  necessarily  unrewarded  in  this 
world,  from  any  other  motive  than  love.  If  you  love  the  Saviour, 
you  will  often  think  of  him ;  and  so  the  meanest  act  of  service 
will  be  covered  with  a  portion  of  the  glory  of  the  Master,  and 
will  be  dignified  by  the  recollection  of  the  truth  that  it  is  for  his 
Bake. 

In  the  next  place,  if  we  love  Christ  we  shall  love  all  that  are 
like  Christ.  It  is  a  law  that  the  brothers  and  sisters  of  the  same 
family  love  each  other ;  and  it  is  a  law  no  less  universal,  that  the 
brothers  and  sisters  of  the  same  Christian  family  love  each  other. 
I  know  it  is  a  very  easy  thing  for  the  churchman  to  love  the 
churchman,  and  for  the  dissenter  to  love  the  dissenter :  an 
earthly  love  can  manage  this ;  but  the  difficult  or  at  least  the 
dutiful  thing  is  for  the  dissenter  to  love  the  churchman  in  spite 
of  his  churcbmanship,  and  for  the  churchman  to  love  the  dis- 
senter in  spite  of  his  dissent.  Love,  nevertheless,  will  penetrate 
the  exterior  circumstance  which  conceals  it,  and  fasten  upon  the 
inner  loveliness  which  is  the  transcript  of  the  likeness,  and  the 
outline,  though  dim,  of  the  image  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  I 
have  often  wondered  what  after  all,  if  we  are  Christians,  shall  we 
think  of  all  our  quarrels  and  disputes,  acrimony  and  bitterness, 
strong  language,  bad  temper,  and  evil  passions  excited  about 
church  and  state,  about  conformity  and  dissent,  about  presbytery 
and  episcopacy,  when  we  meet  in  heaven,  where  there  are  neither 
churchmen,  nor  dissenters,  nor  episcopalians,  nor  presbyterians, 
but  only  Christians.  How  shall  we  then  look  back,  and  if  we 
look  back,  with  what  regret  and  amazement  shall  we  do  so,  on 
those  disputes  and  quarrels  and  enmities  which  have  rent  and  dis- 
turbed the  visible  Church,  and  hindered  the  spread  of  the  glorious 
Gospel  for  which  the  visible  Church  was  instituted !  If  Christ 
has  loved  us,  and  we  love  Christ,  we  shall  increasingly  love  all 

40 


470  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

true  Christians,  and  be  ready,  in  spite  of  all  minor  points  of  dif- 
ference, to  do  them  all  the  good  we  can. 

Such  are  a  few  of  the  proofs  of  love  to  Christ.  Try  yourselves 
by  them.  Do  you  thus  love  Christ  ?  do  you  thus  think  of  him  ?  do 
you  thus  look  to  him  ?  do  you  thus  speak  of  him  ?  do  you  thus  love 
his  people  ?  and  lastly,  let  me  add,  can  you  sacrifice  for  him  ?  If 
two  persons  are  walking  in  the  same  direction,  and  a  servant  in 
livery  follows  them,  you  do  not  know  whether  of  the  two  is  his 
master  so  long  as  they  both  keep  the  same  road :  but  the  road 
diverges ;  one  of  the  masters  goes  to  the  right,  and  the  other  to 
the  left ;  you  then  ascertain  whose  servant  he  is  by  his  following 
his  own  master.  Now  as  long  as  our  worldly  profit  and  our 
Christian  principles  flow  in  the  same  channel,  which,  blessed  be 
G-od,  they  often  do  and  may  do,  it  is  very  difficult  to  determine 
whose  we  are :  but  when  the  turning  comes — when  the  crisis 
arrives,  at  which  we  must  surrender  the  world  and  follow  Christ, 
or  surrender  Christ  and  follow  the  world,  then  it  will  be  seen,  and 
we  too  shall  feel  whom  we  love,  and  whose  we  are,  and  with 
whom  we  expect  to  be  reckoned.  Can  you,  therefore,  give  up  all 
for  Christ's  sake  ?  I  trust  you  have  the  feeling  that  would 
dictate  such  surrender  and  sacrifice ;  and  when  the  crisis  demands 
such  sacrifice,  you  are  prepared,  I  doubt  not,  to  make  it. 

Thus,  I  have  shown  you  what  are  the  characteristics  of 
Christ's  love  to  us,  and  our  love  to  him.  It  now  remains  for 
each  one  to  ask  himself,  Do  I  love  Christ  ?  and  if  he  can  say, 
"  Lord,  thou  knowest  all  things,  thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee," 
then  it  is  plain  that  Christ  loves  him. 


■•tt- 


LECTURE  XXXI. 

DIVINE    CHASTISEMENT. 

'  "As  many  as  I  love,  I  rebuke  and  chasten :  be  zealous  therefore,  and  re- 
pent."— Rev.  iii.  19. 

In  my  last  lecture,  I  showed  that  God's  love  to  us  is  everlast- 
ing :  man's  love  is  the  creation  of  an  hour,  and  in  an  hour  it 
evaporates  and  dies.  God's  love  is  not  a  passion  that  suddenly 
springs  up  and  overflows  like  a  mountain  stream,  and  is  then 
dried  up ;  but  an  everlasting  principle  that  began  in  the  depths 
of  an  eternity  past,  and  will  rise  and  flow  till  like  a  mighty 
ocean  it  covers  all  in  eternity  to  come.  "  I  have  loved  thee  with 
an  everlasting  love."  I  stated  next,  that  God's  love  to  us  is 
sovereign.  We  love  the  creature,  because  in  that  creature  there 
is  something  that  provokes,  excites,  creates  our  love.  But  when 
God  loved  us,  he  could  see  nothing  in  us  worthy  of  that  love  or 
calculated  to  excite  it  in  him  or  concentrate  it  upon  us.  In  other 
words,  he  loved  us,  not  because- we  were  beautiful,  but  to  make 
us  so :  not  because  we  were  worthy,  but  to  make  us  worthy.  Our 
love  is  the  creature's  love,  created  by  something  external  to  it : 
God's  love  is  the  Creator's  love,  lighting  upon  an  object  that 
is  unworthy  of  it;  but  not  leaving  that  object  till  it  is  transformed 
by  its  presence,  and  made  beautiful  and  worthy  of  its  tenantry. 

I  also  showed  you  that  men's  disputes  about  the  doctrine  of 
election,  wherever  those  men  are  true  Christians,  are  very  fre- 
quently logomachies,  i.  e.  battles  about  words.  You  will  meet 
with  one  who  says,  "  G  od  hath  chosen  us  in  Christ  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world,  that  we  should  be  holy ;"  and  I  am  one  that 
believes  it;  and  believes  it  to  be  as  I  plainly  indicated  in  the 
Bible  as  almost  any  truth  in  it.  But  you  will  find  others, 
who  say  that  God  did  not  love  us  thus  from  eternity;  that  he 

(471) 


472  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

only  called  us  in  time ;  and  that  election  is  not  a  scriptural  doc- 
trine. I  ask  of  such  a  person,  "  Do  you  believe  that  God  loves 
me  before  I  love  him  ?  in  other  words,  that  my  love  to  him  is 
only  the  echo  of  his  love  to  me  ?  Do  you  believe  that  his  love  ia 
the  original,  mine  the  copy  ?  that  his  is  the  first  sound,  mine  the 
echo  ?  that  God  calls  before  I  hear  ?  that  he  touches  me  before  I 
respond?  that  he  draws  before  I  follow?"  He  replies,  "Cer- 
tainly; if  I  did  not  admit  all  this,  I  should  not  admit  the  doc- 
trines of  grace."  Then  our  dispute  about  election  is  a  mere 
dispute  about  words.  It  matters  not  whether  God  determined  to 
save  me  millions  of  millennia  ago,  or  whether  God  was  pleased  to 
think  of  me  for  the  first  time  a  few  hours  ago,  and  in  his  sove- 
reignty to  call  me  to  his  kingdom.  It  is  equally  a  call,  not  de- 
pendent upon  anything  in  me,  but  on  the  sovereignty  and  unme- 
rited love  of  that  God  who  loved  me  in  spite  of  me.  The  truth 
is,  that  with  God  this  past,  this  present,  this  future  is  nothing. 
Men  talk  of  the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future ;  all  this  is  the 
imperfect  human  speech  trying  to  embody  and  to  define  the  infi- 
nite and  the  inexpressible  eternal  things.  With  God  there  is  no 
past,  nor  present,  nor  future,  but  all  an  open,  unlimited,  transpa- 
rent vow.  The  past  of  eternity  and  the  future  of  eternity  are 
with,  God  equally  present  to  him,  just  as  the  word  that  now 
escapes  from  my  lips  is  present  to  your  ear,  and  the  ray  that 
shines  from  my  face  lights  upon  the  retina  of  your  eye.  There  is 
no  past  with  God ;  there  is  with  him  no  future;  and  what  we  call 
time  is  just  a  little  parenthesis  in  the  bosom  of  eternity — a  portion 
of  the  eternal  current  —  cut  ofi"  by  an  ever-flowing  and  imaginary 
line  which  we  baptize  by  the  name  of  time,  just  because  we  have 
only  this  human  word  to  express  an  idea  which  is  only  luminous 
and  real  to  that  God  to  whom  all  things  are  naked,  and  by  whom 
all  things  are  understood. 

God  loved  us  then  from  everlasting;  he  loved  us  in  his  sove- 
reignty; and  he  loved  us,  as  I  told  you,  so  truly,  that,  as  the  ex- 
pression of  that  love,  he  gave  Christ  to  die  for  us.  Many  Chris- 
tians, as  I  have  often  observed,  many  true  Christians,  have  a  most 
imperfect  and  unscriptural  idea  of  God's  love.  They  seem  to 
think  that  God  hated  us,  and  watched  to  destroy  us,  when  Christ 
stepped  in,  died  upon  the  cross,  and,  in  consequence  of  this,  God 


DIVINE  CHASTISEMENT.  473 

is  forced  to  pardon  them  whom  he  would  otherwise  destroy ;  and 
so  now  loves  them  whom  before  he  hated.  Such  a  notion  would 
imply  that  God  is  changeable;  that  God's  feelings  can  be  com- 
pelled by  something  external  to  God ;  which  is  altogether  absurd 
and  unscriptural.  So  far  from  God's  love  being  created  by 
Christ's  death,  it  is  all  the  reverse.  Christ's  death  was  not  the 
cause  of  God's  love,  but  the  fruit  of  it ;  not  the  creation  of  a  love . 
that  was  not,  but  the  exponent  of  a  love  that  was  previously  in 
existence.  And  Christ's  death  and  sacrifice  were  required,  not 
to  make  God  love  us,  but,  among  other  relations,  to  be  the  channel 
and  the  outlet  for  the  coming  forth  of  that  infinite,  illimitable  and 
boundless  love  which  needed  but  a  channel  for  its  outlet,  that 
should  glorify  justice,  holiness,  and  truth. 

Having  noticed  God's  love  and  its  characteristics,  I  endeav- 
oured to  show  you  that  the  best  evidence  of  God's  outer  love  to 
us,  is  our  inner  consciousness  of  love  to  him.  No  man  can  open 
God's  secret  book  and  decipher  it  j  no  leaf  of  that  mysterious 
record  was  ever  scattered  by  sibyl,  prophet  or  apostle,  and  given 
to  man  to  read,  to  translate,  or  copy.  But  we  have  in  our  hearts 
what  is  just  as  good,  the  evidence  that  we  love  him,  or  the  evi- 
dence that  we  love  him  not;  and  if  we  are  conscious  that  we  love 
him,  then  this  love  in  our  hearts  is  the  evidence  that  he  loves  us ; 
for,  says  the  apostle,  "We  love  him  because  he  first  loved  us." 
Does  any  man  ask  me,  therefore.  Am  I  elected  of  God  ?  I 
answer.  It  is  easy  to  settle  this :  have  you  elected  him  to  be  your 
God  ?  then  doubt  not  that  he  has  elected  you.  If  you  ask.  Does 
God  love  me  ?  it  is  easy  to  answer  that :  Do  you  love  him  ?  then 
doubt  not  that  he  has  loved  you  with  an  everlasting  love.  But 
you  say.  How  shall  I  know  that  I  love  him  ?  I  answer,  Less  by 
the  fervour  of  the  passion  that  you  feel,  and  more  by  the  fixity 
of  the  principle  that  sustains  and  guides  you  through  life.  Love 
to  God  is  not  an  overwhelming  passion  that  carries  us  almost  to 
fianaticism ;  but  is  a  sustaining  and  abiding  principle  that  becomes 
deepest  where  it  is  most  required,  and  that  is  felt  to  be  strongest 
when  the  emergency  occurs  that  needs  most  its  expression.  For 
instance  :  I  speak  to  afi"ectionate  sons  in  this  assembly — Is  there 
a  son  in  this  assembly  in  whose  bosom  is  the  image  of  a  mother 
tii,e, Miest  thing  ujon  earth?  and  in  whoSj^.  heaft.t^ere  glows 

40* 


474  TTTF  CH^'RCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

that  most  fair  and  beautiful  of  all  holy  affections — affection  to  a 
mother  ?  That  son  does  not  always  carry  about  a  conscious  feel- 
ing and  sense  of  affection  to  his  mother  as  a  passion  constantly 
boiling  within  him,  and  overpowering  all  his  thoughts,  feelings, 
and  views ;  but  let  any  dishonour  be  offered  to  that  mother — let 
her  name  be  evil  spoken  of — let  her  be  placed  in  ariy  danger 
— let  her  interests  be  in  jeopardy,  and  then  the  passion  that  lay 
nestling  in  the  secret  nooks  and  depths  of  the  heart,  breaks  forth 
in  all  its  fulness  and  strength,  and  proves  by  deeds  how  deep, 
tboujrh  latent,  was  the  affection  that  son  bore  to  his  mother.  It 
is  so  with  love  to  God ;  it  is  rather  a  principle,  than  a  passion ;  it 
shows  itself  when  the  emergency  requires  it ;  but  then  it  shows 
itself  to  be  strong  and  unconquerable. 

But  I  proceed  to  the  remainder  of  this  verse  :  "  As  many  as  I 
love,  I  rebuke  and  chasten."  This  certainly  seems  to  us,  at  first 
blush,  very  strange  treatment.  We  should  have  supposed  that 
when  Christ  was  showing  to  us  his  love,  he  would  have  said, 
"  As  many  as  I  love,  I  make  rich,  I  make  great,  and  noble, 
illustrious,  renowned ;  I  give  them  all  that  this  world  has  to  be- 
stow ;  and  I  show  that  I  love  them  by  thus  wreathing  their  brows 
with  honours  that  do  not  fade,  and  by  filling  their  coffers  with 
riches  that  thieves  do  not  steal."  But  he  does  not  say  so ;  the 
natural  man  understandeth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  Grod. 
"  As  many  as  I  love,  I  rebuke  and  chasten  ;"  that  is  foolishness 
to  the  natural  man ;  but  to  the  Christian  who  is  taught  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  it  is  the  best  and  most  precious  wisdom. 

The  whole  history  of  the  church  is  a  running  comment  upon 
this  text.  From  Abel,  who  died  a  martyr  amid  the  wrecks  and 
within  the  sight  of  paradise  lost,  downward  to  the  last  sufferer 
in  the  South  Sea  Isles,  we  have  living,  lasting,  historical  comments 
upon  the  words,  "As  many  as  I  love,  I  rebuke  and  chasten." 
Look  into  the  catacombs  of  Rome  in  ancient  days  —  visit  the 
•  crypts  of  cathedrals,  the  dens  of  the  inquisition,  the  dungeons 
of  prisons,  and  you  will  find  by  the  inscriptions  they  have  left 
behind,  such  as  those  I  read  to  you,  when  I  told  you  of  the 
recent  disclosures  at  the  Inquisition  of  Rome,  that  Christ's 
ministers  have  very  often  been  martyrs.  Persecution  and  pro- 
scription  have  been   the   heirlooms   of    Christianity,   and   the 


DIVINE  CHASTISEMENT.  475 

Miserere  of  the  suiFerer  lias  been  long  the  voice  of  the  Christian. 
Read  such  chapters  as  Hebrews  xi.  where  you  are  told,  "  They" 
— i.  e.  those  that  Christ  loved — "  were  stoned,  they  were  sawn 
asunder,  were  tempted,  were  slain  with  the  sword;  they  wan- 
dered about  in  sheep-skins  and  goat-skins,  being  destitute, 
afflicted,  tormented ;  (of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy :)  they 
wandered  in  deserts  and  in  mountains,  and  in  dens  and  caves  of 
the  earth."  "  Jacob  have  I  loved ;  Esau  have  I  hated ;"  yet 
Esau  was  the  prosperous  man,  Jacob  afflicted.  Joseph  did  God 
love ;  and  yet  Joseph  did  God  visit.  Lazarus  did  God  love,  and 
Dives  did  God  cast  ofFj  and  yet  Dives  was  clothed  with  purple 
and  fared  sumptuously  every  day;  and  poor  Lazarus  was  mingled 
with  the  dogs,  and  was  glad  of  the  crumbs  that  fell  from  the  rich 
one's  table. 

The  man  in  this  assembly  who  can  say  that  bis  past  life  has 
been  sunshine,  that  his  past  path  has  bloomed  with  flowers,  that  all 
has  shone  brightly,  that  all  dispensations  have  fallen  propitiously 
on  him,  has  most  reason  to  suspect  how  it  stands  between  him 
and  God.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  that  man  whose  whole  life 
has  been  a  struggle  —  whose  history  has  been  conflict  with  trial, 
and  whom  all  God's  waves  have  seemed  to  roll  over,  may  not  in- 
deed be  a  Christian ;  but  there  is  in  his  experience  a  stronger 
ground  for  presumption  that  he  belongs  to  the  Lord  Jesus ;  for  it 
is  one  mark  at  least  of  the  people  of  God,  "  Those  whom  I  love, 
I  chasten." 

But  not  only  have  we  a  commentary  on  this  text  in  the  facts 
of  past  history,  but  we  have  it  also  in  the  declarations  of  our  Lord 
himself.  After  the  apostle  has  given  a  catalogue  of  those  who 
have  thus  suffered,  in  Hebrews  xi.,  he  gives  the  commentary  on 
this  catalogue  in  chap.  xii.  "  My  son,  despise  not  thou  the  chas- 
tening of  the  Lord,  nor  faint  when  thou  art  rebuked  of  him ;" 
and  here  is  the  text  expressed  in  other  words,  *'  For  whom  the 
Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth,  and  scourgeth  every  son  whom  he  re- 
ceiveth."  "  If  ye  endure  chastening,"  then,  what  is  the  argu- 
ment of  the  world?  "God  has  cast  you  off"."  And  sometimes 
the  suspicion  of  our  weak  hearts  is  the  same ;  but,  "  if  ye  endure 
chastening,"  the  argument  of  inspiration  is,  "God  dealeth  with 
you  as  with  sons ;  for  what  son  is  he  whom  the  father  chasteneth 


476  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

not  ?"  But,  to  illustrate  the  sentiment  I  have  already  stated,  ho 
adds,  "  If  ye  be  without  chastisement,  whereof  all  are  partakers, 
then  are  ye  bastards  —  ye  are  not  true  sons,"  — ye  are  mere  pro- 
fessors. "  Furthermore  we  had  fathers  of  our  flesh  which  corrected 
us,  and  we  gave  them  reverence ;  .  .  •  they  verily  for  a  few  days 
chastened  us  after  their  own  pleasure ;"  many  a  father  chastening 
his  son,  not  in  order  to  correct  that  son's  misdoing,  but,  what  is 
the  greatest  ruin  to  that  son,  expressing  his  own  wrath,  impetuous 
passion,  rage,  and  excitement.  "They  after  their  own  pleasure," 
— to  gratify  often  their  own  passion, — "  but  he  for  our  profit,  that 
we  might  be  partakers  of  his  holiness.  Now,"  says  the  apostle, 
"no  chastening  for  the  present  seemeth  joyous^  but  grievous; 
howbeit  afterward  it  yieldeth  the  peaceable  fruit  of  righteousness 
to  them  that  are  exercised  thereby."  Now,  in  all  the  afflictions 
we  experience,  let  us  recollect  this  blessed  truth,  that  the  chas- 
tisement of  God  is  not  the  punishment  of  a  sovereign  inflicted 
on  his  guilty  subjects,  in  the  exercise  of  his  sovereignty,  but  the 
chastisement  of  a  father  inflicted  upon  his  children  in  the  exercLse 
of  paternal  love.  I  explained  to  you  this  morning,  when  I  preached 
to  you  upon  the  text,  "  Our  Father,  deliver  us  from  evil,"  that 
this  is  the  cry  of  God's  children  j  and  when  they  ask  him  "  to 
deliver  them  from  evil,"  he  sends  these  chastisements  upon  them, 
as  we  are  told  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  "  we  are  chas- 
tened of  the  Lord,  that  we  should  not  be  condemned  with  the 
world."  The  first  end  that  God  has  in  view  in  chastening  those 
whom  he  loves  is,  their  benefit  and  good.  "  It  is  good  for  me," 
says  the  Psalmist,  "  that  I  have  been  afflicted."  Did  you  ever 
hear  any  one  who  said  at  the  close  of  his  affliction,  "  It  was  a 
curse  to  me  that  I  was  so  afflicted?"  Even  men  who  are  not 
Christians  will  admit,  that,  if  it  had  not  been  for  that  blow,  they 
had  not  risen  to  their  present  position ;  if  it  had  not  been  for 
that  severe  dispensation,  they  had  not  arrived  ^t  their  present 
prosperity ;  and  what  the  world  says  faintly.  Christians  say  fully, 
"  No  tribulation  for  the  present  seemeth  joyous,  but  grievous ; 
but  afterward  it  worketh  out  the  peaceable  fruit  of  righteousness." 
Old  Bishop  Hall  said  very  truly,  "  I  have  learned  more  of  God, 
and  of  myself,  by  one  week's  suffering  than  by  all  the  prosperity 
of  a  long  lifetime." 


DIVINE  CHASTISEMENT.  477 

'  A  second  end  that  God  has  in  view  in  chastening  those  whom 
he  loves  is,  to  wean  us  from  this  present  world.  We  are  apt  to 
love  this  world  to  excess ;  and  not  only  so,  but  when  it  smiles 
upon  us  to  be  so  charmed  with  its  syren  smile,  as  to  give  utterance 
to  the  expression,  ''This  is  our  rest,  and  here  will  we  dwell."  I 
do  not  mean  by  being  "  weaned  from  the  world,"  that  God's  chas-j 
tisements  should  draw  us  from  admiring  the  beautiful  sky — from 
being  charmed  with  those  stars,  that,  like  the  eyes  of  omniscience, 
shine  upon  us — from  loving  those  flowers  that  are  the  smiles  of  God, 
the  stars  of  the  earth — or  from  applauding  and  delighting  in  explor- 
ing the  wisdom,  the  goodness,  and  the  beneficence  of  God  that  per- 
vade all  nature  and  overflow  all  creation  :  but  what  I  mean  by  the 
world  is,  that  bundle  of  lusts  and  passions,  of  desires,  and  prefer- 
ences, and  sympathies,  which  the  apostle  unfolds  and  enumerates, 
when  he  says,  "All  that  is  in  the  world,  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  and 
the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride  of  life,  is  not  of  the  Father, 
but  is  of  the  world."  From  the  excessive  love  of  what  is  beau- 
tiful, and  innocent,  and  holy,  and  happy  in  the  world,  these  chas- 
tisements are  also  intended  to  wean  us ;  for  it  is  possible  not  only 
to  love  what  is  forbidden,  and  thus  sin,  but  to  love  to  excess  that 
which  is  allowed,  and  thus  no  less  to  sin.  Therefore  God  chas- 
tens those  whom  he  loves ;  he  embitters  to  the  Christian  the 
pleasures  of  the  world ;  he  dims  the  sheen  of  things  seen,  or  so 
changes  his  mind  and  heart,  that  he  sees  them  in  another  light. 
Every  afiiiction  that  befals  a  Christian  cries  to  him,  "  This  is  not 
your  rest;  arise,  let  us  go  hence."  Every  sorrow  speaks  to 
him,  "This  is  not  your  restj"  it  is  blighted.  The  tears  of  the 
weeper  wash  the  eye,  and  enable  it  to  see  more  clearly  the  things 
that  are  beyond  the  horizon  —  that  are  unseen  and  eternal. 

A  third  design  that  our  blessed  Lord  has  in  chastening  those 
that  he  loves,  is  to  lead  them  nearer  to  himself.  We  find  even 
the  true  Christian  idolizing  some  beautiful  and  beloved  object. 
The  reason  why  the  babe  is  often  snatched  from  the  mother's 
bosom  is,  that  that  mother  fixed  on  her  child  the  affiection  that 
she  owed  to  the  God  that  gave  it;  the  reason  why  the  wealth 
evaporates  from  your  coffers,  or  takes  unexpected  wings  and  flies 
away,  or  comes  under  the  grasp  of  the  robber,  is,  that  you  put 
that  wealth  in  the  room  of  the  God  who  enabled  you  to  earn  it 


478  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

God  loves  you  so  much  that  he  will  not  allow  you  to  glue  and 
rivet  your  affections  to  things  that  are  perishing,  lest  when  the 
world  perishes,  the  worshipper  of  the  world  should  perish  with  it. 
If,  therefore,  you  are  the  children  of  God,  he  will  not  suffer  you 
to  ruin  your  soul,  by  loving,  and  linking  that  soul  to  something 
that  occupies  the  place  and  absorbs  the  affections  that  are  due  to 
God  alone ;  and  hence,  in  the  experience  of  such,  the  loss  of 
earth  is  the  gain  of  heaven  j  the  sickness  of  the  body  is  the  sal- 
vation of  the  soul ;  the  destruction  of  the  estate  is  the  introduc- 
tion to  the  inheritance  in  glory,  and  the  breaking  up  of  all  that 
you  loved,  and  all  that  was  beautiful  about  you,  is  only  the  scat- 
tering of  the  screens  and  the  rending  of  the  veil  that  kept  your 
eye  from  seeing  Him  who  loves  you,  and  therefore  thus  rebukes 
and  thus  chastens  you. 

Another  object  that  our  Lord  has  in  view  in  chastening  those 
that  he  loves  is,  to  mortify  what  is  evil  in  them,  to  nourish,  sus- 
tain, and  reveal  what  is  holy  and  good  within  them.  We  find 
that  there  wa.s  no  saint  or  apostle  in  the  New  Testament  who  was 
not  flawed.  There  is  not  one  vessel  that  the  potter  has  made 
and  placed  in  his  temple  upon  earth  that  is  not  more  or  less 
cracked.  Why  is  it  that  the  most  illustrious  characters  in  the 
bright  catalogue  of  the  saints  of  God  have  all  some  great  flaw,  or 
were  stained  by  some  dark  fault  ?  Because  the  worship  of  saints 
is  not  an  exclusively  Roman  Catholic  dogma,  —  it  is  in  human 
nature.  What  is  Carlyle's  hero  worship,  but  human  nature  try- 
ing to  worship  the  intellect,  or  self-reliance — just  as  the  Roman 
Catholic  worships  his  saint  ?  If  we  saw  David  without  a  fault — 
Paul  without  his  persecution — Peter  without  his  denial,  we  should 
begin  to  worship  David,  and  Paul,  and  Peter,  and  give  to  the 
created  man  the  honour  that  is  due  to  the  uncreated  and  eternal 
God.  Hence  we  find  that  when  God  afflicted  these  men,  and 
placed  them  in  circumstances  of  trial,  he  brought  out  the  inherent 
corruption  that  was  within  them.  Therefore  we  read  of  the  im- 
patience of  Moses  —  the  unbelief  of  Abraham  —  the  self-satisfac- 
tion of  Hezekiah — the  idolatry  of  Solomon — the  disobedience  of 
Jonah — the  denial  of  Peter ;  teaching  us  that  these  men  were  but 
creatures — poor,  frail,  feeble  creatures — sinners  by  nature,  though 
saints  by  grace ;  and  that  whatever  excellency  was  in  them  was 


DIVINE  CHASTISEMENT.  479 

borrowed,  and  they  needed  to  look  Tor  and  pray  for  fresh  aid  to 
that  excellence  every  day,  lest  they  should  disgrace  that  holy 
name  by  which  they  were  called.  But  when  God  afflicted,  and 
tried,  and  chastened  them,  then  we  read  of  the  meekness  of 
Moses — of  the  patience  of  Job  —  of  the  repentance  of  David  — 
of  the  penitence  of  Peter  —  of  the  zeal  and  faithfulness  and 
preaching  of  Paul  j  bo  that  the  storm  which  smote  those  trees, 
stripped  them  of  their  foliage,  laid  their  branches  bare  to  the 
biting  winds  and  the  nipping  frosts,  but  yet  left  them,  in  the 
winter  of  their  being,  only  to  strike  their  roots  more  deeply,  to 
husband  more  their  vital  strength ;  and  thus,  next  summer,  to 
put  out  a  more  glorious  foliage,  and  to  bear  more  abundant  fruit, 
to  the  honour  and  the  praise  of  Him  who  made  them  and  planted 
them. 

In  the  next  place  Christ  chastens  and  rebukes  those  whom  he 
loves,  in  order  to  make  the  future  glory  more  welcome.  Have 
you  never  noticed  in  the  most  exquisite  paintings  a  very  dark 
background?  Why  so?  To  make  the  main  picture  appear 
more  beautiful,  sharp,  and  prominent.  Did  you  never  hear  in 
the  noblest  strains  of  music,  discords  thrown  in  ?  Why  ?  That 
by  the  momentary  jar  the  following  harmony  may  sound  more 
sweet  and  glorious.  So  God  is  making  this  world,  to  many  of 
his  people,  more  bitter,  in  order  that  the  world  into  which  they 
are  soon  to  enter  and  live  for  ever,  may  be  felt  more  beautiful, 
happy,  and  welcome.  It  is  the  stormy  and  tempestuous  sea  that 
makes  the  haven  more  delightful  to  the  mariner ;  it  is  the  nettles 
and  the  thorns  of  this  world  that  will  make  so  beautiful  and 
fragrant  the  amaranthine  flowers  of  that  world  that  is  to  be.  It 
is  the  poor  and  ragged  garment  and  the  bitter  bread  of  this  prcr 
sent  pilgrimage  that  will  make  that  future  heaven  so  fair  and 
glorious.  It  is  the  weary  traveller  that  rests  most  sweetly  when 
his  journey  is  over;  it  is  the  child  that  has  cried  most  bitterly 
that  sleeps  most  sweetly  after  weeping ;  it  is  the  Christian  who 
has  sufiered  most  on  earth  who  will  most  enjoy  "  the  rest  that  re- 
maineth  for  the  people  of  God."  So  true  is  it  that  those  "  whom 
he  loves,  he  rebukes  and  chastens." 

There  is  another  great  truth  that  Christ's  chastening  teaches 
us,  that  he  himself  is  the  author  of  it  all.     We  are  very  apt  to 


480  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

conclude  that  our  chastening,  or  afflictions,  or  distresses,  what- 
ever they  may  be,  come  from  second  causes.  I  have  been  trying 
to  explain  to  you  the  sentiments  of  some  of  those  men  who  at- 
tribute every  thing  to  natural  laws — to  fate — ^to  destiny — to  con- 
coraitancy  of  circumstances.  No  man  has  less  to  fear  from  these 
things  than  the  Christian ;  no  book  is  less  likely  to  be  scathed  by 
them  than  the  Bible.  All  experience,  growing,  accumulating 
experience,  attests  the  truth  of  this.  But  when  a  Christian 
suffers — let  it  be  from  plague,  from  pestilence,  from  famine — let 
it  be  from  sword  or  battle — let  it  be  from  sudden  death — let  it  be 
from  the  east  or  from  the  west,  from  the  north  or  from  the  south 
—  let  the  plague  be  accounted  for  by  the  excessive  heat,  or  the 
excessive  cold  (and  so  contradictory  are  our  philosophers  that 
they  have  accounted  for  it  on  both  principles) — let  it  be  accounted 
for  by  the  absence  or  by  the  presence  of  electricity  in  the  air  — 
let  us  subscribe  to  the  fungus  theory,  or  to  the  theory  that  con- 
tradicts it  and  laughs  it  to  scorn  —  we  must  at  last  come  to  the 
conclusion  to  which  God  grant  that  all  statesmen  and  rulers  may 
speedily  come — to  which  Christians  long  ago  came,  and  to  which 
the  world  itself  is  coming  —  for  the  very  last  newspaper  I  read 
says  respecting  our  recent  judgment,  "All  is  mystery;  all  solu- 
tions of  it  are  empiricism  ;" — ^but  to  us  there  is  but  one  Grod  and 
one  Mediator;  he  sent  the  pestilence  to  punish  the  guilty  and 
chasten  his  own,  and  his  people  pronounced  of  it,  "  The  cup  that 
our  Father  has  given  us,  shall  we  not  drink  it  V  "  The  Lord 
gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away ;  blessed  be  the  name  of  the 
Lord."  "In  him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being;"  and 
whether  there  be  laws,  or  whether  there  be  second  causes,  or 
not,  of  this  we  are  sure,  that  the  second  cause  is  just  the  mani- 
festation of  God's  energy.  And  strange  it  is,  that  just  because 
God  works,  as  God  might  be  expected  to  work,  so  harmoniously, 
so  consistently — not,  like  man,  by  fits  and  starts,  changing  his 
plans  and  his  purposes  every  day,  but  keeping  continuously  all 
creation  moving  in  order  and  harmony — we  foolishly  argue  that 
he  has  let  the  world  alone,  and  left  it  to  itself;  and  thus  we 
supersede  God  by  second  causes,  and  make  the  experiment,  the 
absurd  experiment,  of  working  the  world  without  God,  which  is 
just  as  wise  as  to  attempt  to  work  a  steam-engine  without  steam, 


DIVINE  CHASTISEMENT.  481 

OT  to  sail  a  ship  without  wind,  or  to  have  an  eflfect  without  a 
cause. 

It  is  thus,  that  when  he  chastens  us,  it  is  to  lead  us  to  himself: 
and  when  he  teaches  us  by  the  contradictions  and  inconsistencies 
of  man,  that  it  is  the  finger  of  God — then  the  dispensation  has 
done  its  work,  and  we  learn  that  not  fate,  not  accident,  not  any- 
thing fortuitous ;  nor  this  theory  nor  that,  but  God  himself  sent 
it ;  and  that  on  our  humbling  ourselves,  and  giving  expression  to 
our  penitential  prayers,  feelings,  convictions,  sorrow,  God  heard 
us,  and  sent  it  away. 

Let  us  notice,  in  the  next  place,  that  in  all  these  afflictions 
which  Christ  sends,  there  is  nothing  penal.  Mark  this;  so  long 
as  a  man  remains  a  stranger  to  the  Gospel,  so  long  he  has  no 
reason  for  thinking  that  his  afflictions  are  otherwise  than  penal ; 
but  when  a  man  becomes  a  true  Christian,  then  he  has  reason  to 
believe  that  his  afflictions  are  paternal.  We  are  not  to  argue 
from  the  affliction  to  what  God  is;  but  we  are  to  argue  from 
what  God  is  to  what  the  affliction  is.  We  are  not  to  say,  "  The 
affliction  is  bitter,  and  therefore  God  is  a  wrathful  being ;"  but 
we  are  to  argue — "  God  is  our  Father,  and  therefore  this  affliction 
is  paternal,  and  sent  to  us  in  love."  All  our  trials  are  paternal ; 
all  our  afflictions  are  the  exponents  of  love.  "  Whom  the  Lord 
loves  he  chastens,"  is  the  tree  cast  into  the  bitterest  streams,  that 
will  make  all  those  streams  to  be  presently  and  permanently 
sweet. 

Let  me  notice,  as  another  lesson,  that  we  are  taught  by  these 
afflictions,  when  Christ  rebukes,  afflicts,  and  chastens  those  whom 
he  loves,  we  should  feel  under  them  a  deeper  sense  of  the  pre- 
ciousness  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  It  is  in  that  deep  desolation, 
when  we  feel  that  most  bitter  of  all  feelings  which  is  expressed  in 
the  word  "alone;"  when  we  feel  that  all  have  forsaken  us,  and 
that  there  is  no  man  to  help  us — it  is  in  such  an  hour  and  in 
such  desolation  that  the  words  "  It  is  I"  sound  in  our  ears  the 
most  musical  we  ever  heard;  and  the  thought,  "Whom  I  love,  I 
thus  chasten,"  becomes  to  us  a  fountain  of  comfort,  exhaustless 
as  the  God  that  filled  it.  It  is  the  heart  that  is  broken  that  con- 
tains the  greatest  quantity  of  the  living  waters  of  the  Gospel :  it 
is  the  hand  of  him  that  has  been  most  afflicted  that  grasps  the 

41 


482  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

Bible  most  heartily.  It  is  the  man  who  has  felt  all  the  bitter- 
ness of  this  life's  most  painful  dispensations,  who  sees  a  fulness 
in  the  consolations,  and  a  preciousness  in  the  truths  of  the  Gos- 
pel, such  as  he  never  saw  and  never  felt  before.  It  is  the  Chris- 
tian who  feels,  not  the  stoic  who  feels  not,  who  comes  to  know 
how  sweet  and  how  precious  and  how  satisfying  is  that  remedy 
which  is  provided  for  all  that  mourn  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

One  great  design  of  affliction,  let  me  add,  is  to  bring  near  to 
you  the  other  world,  the  future  rest  that  remaineth  for  the  people 
of  God.  Is  it  not  your  experience,  that  when  you  have  long  been 
thoughtless,  and  God,  the  soul,  eternity,  have  been  to  you  but 
words  without  meaning — some  father  in  this  assembly  loses  his 
first-born ;  and  let  me  ask  that  father,  What  were  your  feelings 
when  you  looked  upon  the  pale  face  of  your  child  ?  I  think  the 
most  painful  object  upon  earth  is  the  pale  face  of  a  dead  babe, 
because  most  terribly  eloquent  of  what  sin  has  done  to  one  who 
never  actually  sinned.  I  say,  when  you  gazed  upon  the  pallid 
features  of  the  lifeless  babe,  have  not  your  wealth,  your  gains, 
your  prospects,  your  prosperity,  everything  about  you  become 
shaded,  tainted,  darkened,  in  the  bitterness  you  felt  at  the 
loss  of  one  so  near  and  so  dear  ?  That  feeling  was  needed ;  that 
deep  sense  of  the  uncertainty  and  insufficiency  of  all  that  is 
about  you  could  not  be  purchased  at  a  less  expense  than  the 
loss  of  the  babe  that  that  mother  clasped  so  affectionately,  and 
that  father  loved  so  dearly.  And  thus  Christ  chastens  those  that 
he  loves.  We  walk  in  this  dark  and  chequered  scene  in  this 
world,  as  if  we  were  in  the  dark  and  gloomy  crypts  of  some  vast 
cathedral ;  that  glorious  cathedral  above  us  is  the  heavenly  and 
the  better  land.  At  times,  as  we  are  walking  in  the  dark  crypts 
below,  we  hear  the  pealing  of  the  organ — some  unspent  sounds 
of  the  choir  that  chants  perpetually  the  praises  of  God,  and  ever 
as  a  brother  or  a  sister  or  a  babe  or  parent  goes  up  to  join  that 
happy  and  glorious  choir  in  the  magnificent  cathedral  above,  some 
beams  of  its  celestial  light  come  down  upon  us  to  tell  how  beau- 
tiful it  is,  and  some  of  its  harmonies  light  upon  our  hearts  more 
audibly,  to  tell  us  how  sweet  its  exercises  are,  and  we  are  ready 
to  exclaim,  "  Oh  that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove,  that  I  also  might 


DIVINE  CHASTISEMENT.  48S 

fly  away  and  be  at  rest  I"  absent  from  the  body,  that  I  might  there 
be  present  with  the  Lord. 

It  is  also  one  end  of  affliction  to  enable  us  to  preach  consola- 
tion to  others.  I  believe  that  few  ministers  of  the  Gospel  whom 
I  have  known,  have  been  able  to  speak  true,  heart-reaching  com- 
fort to  those  that  mourn.  I  have  not  been,  in  my  own  biography, 
comparatively,  an  afflicted  man  :  and  what  I  speak  to  you  that 
mourn  is  more  what  I  trust  the  Spirit  teaches  me  in  his  word, 
than  what  the  Spirit  has  yet  taught  me  in  painful,  personal,  and 
bitter  experience.  What  may  be  before  me,  I  know  not;  but 
what  is  past  has  been  to  me  abundant  reason  for  gratitude;  never, 
I  trust,  an  occasion  for  presumption. 

There  are  persons  who  will  speak  thus  to  those  who  are  suffer- 
ing under  the  deepest  and  the  bitterest  calamity,  "  Oh,  you  should 
not  be  so  sorrowful  I"  "  It  is  wrong  to  be  thus  overwhelmed 
with  grief."  That  is  the  most  miserable  of  all  comfort.  There 
are  times  when  grief  requires  an  echo  —  when  no  consolation  we 
can  offer  can  avail,  when  the  full  heart  requires  a  full  vent  for  its 
feelings,  when  we  must  weep  with  those  that  weep  in, order  to 
comfort ;  and  they  are  but  miserable  comforters  who  have  not 
learnt  this.  We  therefore  are  often  afflicted,  and  especially 
ministers  of  the  Gospel,  in  order  that  we  may  be  able  to  sympa- 
thise with  those  that  suffer,  and  thus  to  comfort  others. 

And  lastly,  the  Saviour  chastens  those  whom  he  loves,  in  order 
to  glorify  himself.  Sick-beds  are  often  more  eloquent  than  the 
most  brilliant  discourses.  When  the  world  sees  us  patient  in 
tribulation  ;  plunged  in  suffering,  and  yet  exclaiming,  in  the 
depths  of  our  agony,  ''  The  cup  that  our  Father  hath  given  us  to 
drink,  shall  we  not  drink  it?"  saying,  even  while  we  suffer, 
"  Happy  is  the  man  whom'  the  Lord  chasteneth  ;"  and  that  our 
present  sufferings  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory 
that  shall  be  revealed ;  when  the  world  can  thus  see  joy  on  a 
sick-bed  —  happiness  in  poverty  —  contentment  in  distress  —  ac- 
quiescence in  bereavement ;  then  the  world  will  say,  "  There  is 
something  in  that  Bible  which  there  is  not  in  any  book  of  ours, 
and  something  in  that  Christianity  which  is  not  in  any  philosophy 
of  ours ;  and  the  religion  that  makes  men  thus  triumph  over 


484  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

sick-beds.,  and  pain,  and  sorrow,  and  suffering,  and  even  exclaim 
by  the  margin  of  the  grave,  "  0  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  0 
grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ?"  is  a  religion  that  man  did  not  make, 
for  man's  religion  can  never  touch  man's  heart — it  is  from  God ; 
and  we  will  go  and  seek  to  taste  of  a  cup  which  the  believer  has 
drunk,  and  has  found  to  be  so  sweet  and  so  precious,  if  perad- 
venture  we  too  may  find  it  and  drink  of  it  likewise.  The  Lord 
bless  what  I  have  said,  to  his  glory  and  to  our  good !    Amen. 


.LT  . 


LECTURE  XXXn. 


THE   APPEAL    OP    LOVE. 


"  Behold  I  stand  at  the  door,  and  knock :  if  any  man  hear  my  Toioe,  and 
open  the  door,  I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me." 
— Eev.  iii.  20. 

We  may  love  the  unseen,  but  we  cannot  love  the  unknown ;  it 
is  therefore  important  to  determine  who  it  is  that  thus  speaks, 
"  I  stand  at  the  door,  and  knock."  You  must  have  noticed,  and 
many,  I  hope,  remember  the  beautiful,  varied,  and  expressive 
names  by  which  he  who  thus  speaks  is  represented.  He  is 
spoken  of  in  the  very  introduction  of  the  Apocalypse  as  "  He 
that  is  like  unto  the  Son  of  Man ;  clothed  with  a  garment  down 
to  the  feet;  his  head  and  his  hairs  white  as  snow,  and  his  eyes 
as  a  flame  of  fire.  And  when  I  saw  him,"  says  the  Seer,  "  I  fell 
at  his  feet  as  dead."  It  is  this  divine  personage  then — he  that 
bowed  the  heavens  to  open  our  graves  —  who  came  from  the 
throne,  and  suffered  on  the  accursed  tree  —  who  is  love,  and  by 
whom  alone  God's  love  can  light  upon  us — who  speaks  not  to  the 
bishop  of  Laodicea  alone,  but  unto  every  minister  in  Christendom — 
unto  you  or  me,  and  each  one  of  us,  with  as  distinct  an  emphasis 
as  if  that  one  man  were  the  only  being  in  the  universe — "  I  stand 
at  the  door  of  thy  heart  and  knock  :  if  any  man  will  open,  I  will 
come  in  and  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me."  The  door  that  is 
here  alluded  to  is  the  door  of  access  to  the  human  heart  j  the 
home  to  which  he  seeks  admission  is  the  temple  that  he  origi- 
nally built  so  glorious  for  himself,  but  over  which  there  hath 
passed  so  deep,  so  terrible  an  eclipse.  Certainly  in  the  applicant 
who  claims,  nay,  who  does  not  claim  it  as  his  right,  but  who  asks 

41  *  (485) 


486  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

as  a  favour  admission  to  the  house ;  and  the  house  to  which  he 
seeks  admission,  tliere  is  the  greatest  possible  contrast  The  one, 
the  applicant,  is  all  glory,  beauty,  excellence,  perfection,  blessing; 
the  other,  the  human  heart,  that  house  that  was  once  built  of 
jewels,  made  so  beautiful  and  resplendent,  with  a  light  so  glo- 
rious —  is  now  a  wreck ;  poisonous  weeds  are  growing  about  it ; 
all  venomous  reptiles  crawl  and  breed  in  its  defaced  and  darkened 
chambers,  and  all  evil  spirits  hold  in  it  their  foul  and  continuous 
festival,  though  from  its  surviving  holy  spots  there  leap  forth  at 
intervals,  those  live  sparks  that  reveal  what  the  glory  once  was, 
and  what  the  desolation  now  is,  and  give  earnest  of  what  the 
beauty  shall  be  when  the  Creator  who  formed  it  shall  rebuild  and 
rebeautify  it,  and  make  it  his  own  home  again  for  ever. 

But  in  looking  at  such  a  house,  and  acquiescing  in  the  descrip- 
tion of  it  which  I  have  given,  and  in  noticing  such  an  applicant, 
it  may  be  asked, — Why  should  he  approach  it?  why  should  he 
knock  and  ask  for  admission  ?  It  cannot  be  because  we  have  in- 
vited him ;  we  never  asked  him  to  do  so.  The  Church  at  whose 
minister's  heart,  and  at  whose  people's  heart,  he  asks  for  admis- 
sion, repeated  the  language  and  gloried  in  the  features  which  wo 
repeat  and  glory  in,  *'  We  are  rich,  and  increased  in  goods,  and 
have  need  of  nothing;"  and  little  knew,  what  we  know  not  as  we 
ought  to  know,  that  we  are  poor  and  blind  and  naked,  glorying 
in  our  shame,  and  having  nothing  good  that  we  can  call  our  own. 
It  is  not  true,  then,  that  we  have  invited  him.  When  he  came 
to  his  own,  his  own  received  him  not.  It  was  written  upon  his 
life  —  an  inscription  only  equivalent  in  the  depth  of  the  wicked- 
ness it  revealed,  to  that  which  was  read  upon  his  cross  — "  He 
was  despised  and  rejected  of  men."  We  asked  him  not;  why, 
then,  does  he  come  to  our  hearts,  and  ask  for  admission  ?  It 
cannot  be  to  augment  his  own  happiness ;  it  cannot  be  to  add  to 
the  praises  that  are  continually  hymned  before  him ;  for  where  he 
is,  in  the  unutterable  glory,  "  the  glorious  company  of  the  apostles 
praise  him ;  the  goodly  fellowship  of  the  prophets  praise  him ; 
the  noble  army  of  martyrs  praise  him ;"  his  Church  redeemed 
from  every  land  and  people  and  tongue  continually  praise  him. 
It  cannot  be,  then,  that  it  will  exalt  him,  that  our  faint  notes 
should  be  needed  to  mingle  with  the  hallelujahs  of  the  blessed, 


THE  APPEAL  OF  LOVE.  487 

or  that  our  presence  in  glory  is  requisite  to  make  that  glorious 
One  more  glorious  than  he  is.  If  he  had  expunged  the  earth 
from  the  number  of  the  orbs  of  creation  when  that  earth  fell,  or 
if  he  had  done  what  it  deserved,  made  this  earth  one  vast  grave, 
and  Adam  and  Eve  its  first,  its  last,  its  twin  occupants ;  if  each 
wind  that  rushed  over  it  had  sung  a  perpetual  miserere,  and  the 
curse  it  provoked  had  wrapped  it  as  a  dark  and  terrible  shroud 
for  ever,  heaven  would  not  have  wanted  inhabitants,  nor  would 
God  have  beei^  without  praise,  nor  would  Christ  have  been 
less  happy  in  himself:  why,  then,  does  he  thus  appeal  to 
our  hearts,  and  knock  at  the  door  of  our  minds,  and  ask 
admission  to  our  bosoms.  There  are  angels  that  fell  from  a 
greater  height  still  and  are  plunged  into  more  terrible  woe ;  and 
yet  he  speaks  not  thus  to  them.  The  only  answer  is,  he  knocks 
at  the  door  of  each  heart  in  the  exercise  of  that  sovereign  love 
in  which  he  came  to  the  cross  and  died  for  us.  He  comes  first 
to  us  j  he  does  not  wait  till  we  go  to  him  :  it  is  the  grand  character- 
istic of  the  Gospel,  that  the  first  movement  downward  is  on 
God's  part,  before  there  can  be  a  responsive  movement  upward  on 
our  part.  If  Christ  were  to  wait  till  we  spontaneously  made  ap- 
plication to  him,  he  would  wait  for  ever.  But  his  love  is  too 
great  for  that  j  call  it  election,  call  it  predestination,  call  it  sove- 
reignty, call  it  grace,  call  it  by  whatever  name  you  like  best,  the 
fact  is,  that  he  draws  us  before  we  follow,  that  he  teaches  us  before 
we  respond  to  him,  that  he  speaks  to  us  in  his  love,  and  our  love 
is  but  the  echo  of  the  love  that  is  in  him,  the  great  original. 

It  is  the  law  of  the  creature's  being,  that  the  creature  can  only 
love  where  there  is  something  previously  beautiful,  or  attractive, 
to  draw  out  and  fix  that  love ;  but  when  God  loves,  he  loves- 
where  there  is  nothing  beautiful,  holy,  or  happy,  in  order  to 
make  holy,  beautiful,  and  happy  the  object  of  his  love.  We  love 
as  creatures,  our  love  being  a  created  love — created  by  something 
external  to  us ;  he  loves  as  God,  his  love  being  an  uncreated,  a 
sovereign  love,  making  that  on  which  it  lights,  holy,  beautiful, 
and  happy. 

But,  let  us  ask  again,  in  looking  at  this  most  touching  and  in- 
teresting appeal  of  heaven  to  earth,  of  Christ  to  humanity,  what 
can  be  his  object  in  thus  standing  and  knocking  at  the  door  of 


488  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

the  human  heart  ?  That  object,  interpreted  by  our  sin,  -we  should 
suppose  to  be,  to  spy  out  all  the  dark  nooks  of  the  human  heart; 
to  judge  of  the  length  and  the  breadth  of  its  sin ;  to  measure  the 
extent  of  its  alienation  and  its  estrangement  from  God :  and 
having  seen  how  dark,  how  guilty  it  is — and  I  believe  that  the 
most  awful  spectacle  upon  earth  would  be  a  naked,  unvarnished, 
unconverted  human  heart  —  we  might  suppose  then,  that  our 
Lord's  object  in  his  coming  into  it  is  to  see  all,  and  trace  all,  and 
notice  all  its  guilt,  and  then  to  destroy  or  punish  with  eternal 
misery  the  unhappy  one  that  has  such  a  heart.  But  it  is  not  so. 
Interpreted  by  his  love,  his  errand  is  a  very  different  one.  He 
asks  admission  into  the  heart,  not  as  the  righteous  judge  to  con- 
demn it,  but  as  the  merciful  Saviour  to  forgive  it ;  he  does  not 
demand  possession  as  a  king,  and  crush  where  there  is  no  con- 
version, but  he  begs  and  prays  for  admission  as  a  suppliant,  to 
save,  to  convert,  and  not  to  destroy.  He  desires,  not  to  destroy 
our  wills,  but  to  bow  them  and  make  them  willing;  not  to 
punish,  but  to  pardon ;  and  he  shows  in  thus  waiting  at  the  door 
and  knocking,  the  counterpart,  or  rather  the  original,  of  that 
noble  feature  in  this,  with  all  its  faults  and  shortcomings,  noble 
land  of  ours,  that  the  Queen  of  England,  beloved  and  popular  as 
she  is,  dare  not  enter  the  poorest  peasant's  hut,  or  the  poorest 
mechanic's  lodging,  without  the  permission  of  that  peasant,  or 
the  acquiescence  of  that  mechanic.  It  seems  that  the  Lord  of 
glory  has  such  reverence  for  the  house  that  he  built,  and  so  esti- 
mates the  aboriginal  dignity  of  man's  soul,  the  tenant  of  that 
house,  that  he  will  not  force  an  entrance,  as  omnipotence  could 
do,  but  will  wait  and  pray  for  an  entrance,  making  us  willing, 
never  doing  violence  to  the  will  of  his  rational  offspring.  "  I 
stand  at  the  door,  and  knock." 

This  leads  me,  in  the  next  place,  to  notice,  what  his  position 
is  — "  standing  at  the  door,  and  knocking."  I  need  not  say  that 
the  language  is  figurative  :  but  all  figure  has  an  original  type  of 
which  it  is  the  delineation.  The  substance  is  set  in  the  imagery. 
The  idea  taught  us  is  that  Christ  is  not  satisfied  to  send  an  angel 
to  prepare  his  way ;  nor  is  he  satisfied  with  sending  a  summons 
from  the  skies  :  he  comes  down  and  stands,  and  personally  knocks 
at  each  heart,  and  himself  begs  for  admission  into  it — to  do  what? 


THE  APPEAL  OF  LOVE.  489 

to  make  it  happy.  But  such  is  his  reverence  for  the  fallen  and 
discrowned  king  man, — the  soul  —  the  tenant  of  this  house,  that 
he  will  not  force  an  entrance  by  the  exercise  of  mere  power,  but 
will  conquer  by  the  omnipotence  of  love,  by  the  brightness  of 
truth,  by  the  persistency  of  patience,  by  the  reiterated  knocks 
that  appeal  to  that  heart  which  he  made,  and  which  he  has  come 
to  redeem.  What  a  distance  has  Christ  come !  what  a  descent  is 
there  in  his  interposition  for  us !  And  does  not  this  teach  us 
that  great  truth  which  the  aflfection  of  mothers  and  of  children 
has  illustrated  and  unfolded  to  us  in  the  world's  past  history,  that 
there  is  no  depth  so  deep  that  the  feet  of  love  will  not  wade 
through  it  —  there  is  no  gulf  so  broad  that  the  wings  of  love  will 
not  span  it  ?  There  is  no  estrangement  in  the  fallen  creature  so 
desperate,  so  fearful,  on  this  side  the  very  lintel  of  hell,  that 
Christ  will  not  come  and  snatch  from  destruction  even  the  brand 
that  was  touched  by  the  first  flames  of  the  everlasting  burning. 
We  have  this  very  feature  of  our  blessed  Lord,  shortly  and  sim- 
ply described  in  the  text,  by  another  pen,  but  writing  under  the 
same  inspiration ;  in  the  Song  of  Solomon,  v.  2,  where  the  Church 
says,  "  I  sleep,  but  my  heart  waketh  :  it  is  the  voice  of  my  be- 
loved that  knocketh."  I  may  just  say,  while  reading  this,  I  am 
not  one  of  those  who  have  so  improved  in  modern  philosophy  as 
to  believe  that  this  book  is  not  inspired.  I  regret  greatly  that  an 
able  dissenting  minister.  Dr.  Pye  Smith,  in  one  of  his  works  has 
come  to  such  a  conclusion.  I  think  he  is  utterly  wrong,  demon- 
strably wrong,  and  that  he  has  adopted  a  principle  which,  if 
proved,  we  must,  of  course  admit ;  but  the  admission  of  which,  if 
it  cannot  be  proved,  I  am  prepared  to  show  would  sweep  the 
whole  word  of  God  from  our  possession  altogether.  Either  the 
Old  Testament  is  true  as  a  whole,  or  it  is  not  true  at  all.  Now  I 
believe  this  book  to  be  a  description  of  the  aflfection  which  exists 
between  Christ  and  his  Church,  the  former  being  called  the  hus- 
band of  his  Church,  and  the  latter,  his  redeemed  company,  the 
company  of  his  own  elect,  being  denominated  the  bride  of  the 
Lamb.  The  language  contained  in  it,  and  the  figures  employed 
in  its  illustration,  are  perfectly  pure  to  him  that  is  pure, —  and 
only  to  the  impure  can  they  appear  otherwise.  For  is  there  any- 
thing purer,  holier,  than  domestic  affection  ?     Is  there  anything 


490  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

brighter,  better,  more  sacred,  than  the  domestic  hearth?  The 
cope  of  heaven  covers  not  a  holier  fact.  Is  there  any  affection 
deeper,  intenser,  purer  than  that  for  which  a  man  shall  leave  even 
his  mother,  to  whom  the  tie  is  strongest,  tenderest,  dearest  ?  This 
is  the  affection  which  is  used  in  this  beautiful  song  to  describe 
Christ's  love  to  his  own. 

But  to  return  to  my  subject.  The  bride  is  represented  as  ad- 
dressing the  bridegroom,  saying,  "  I  sleep,  but  my  heart  waketh  : 
it  is  the  voice  of  my  beloved  that  knocketh,  saying,"  ("  I  stand 
at  the  door  and  knock,")  "  Open  to  me,  my  sister,  my  love,  my 
dove,  myundefiled  :  for  my  head  is  filled  with  dew,  and  my  locks 
with  the  drops  of  the  night."  Thus  representing  our  Lord  as 
standing  all  night,  the  dark,  weary,  dismal,  wintry,  stormy  night, 
at  the  door,  asking  for  admission,  and,  in  innumerable  instances, 
the  response  being,  I  will  not. 

Having  seen  what  our  Lord's  position  is,  let  us  now  inquire, 
What  is  our  position  ?  His  position  is,  "  I  stand  at  the  door,  and 
knock :"  and  he  adds,  "  if  any  man  will  open,"  which  shows 
that  all  men  do  not  open,  "  I  will  come  in  and  sup  with  him,  and 
he  with  me."  How  strange  it  is  that  man  should  not  at  once 
open  his  heart,  and  give  instant  and  hearty  welcome  to  such  an 
applicant !  But  does  man  open  his  heart  to  any  other  applicants  ? 
Not  knowing  whom  I  address,  or  how  many  thoughtless,  ungodly, 
unconverted  ones  may  be  before  me,  I  ask,  do  not  you  yourselves 
know  how  often  your  heart  has  opened  wide  its  doors  to  a  thou- 
sand applicants  possessed  of  all  sorts  of  characters  ?  How  often 
have  the  lusts  of  the  world  trod  the  lintel  of  that  door !  how 
often  has  the  world  swung  it  on  its  hinges !  Mammon  sits  upon 
its  threshold,  and  chants  the  praises  of  gold  as  his  morning  and 
his  evening  song ;  and  all  foul  fiends  cling  to  its  door-posts,  re- 
sisting the  entrance  of  him  that  would  spoil  them,  while  they 
welcome,  and  encourage  you  to  welcome,  only  those  that  will  co- 
operate with  them.  Strange  it  is  then  that  man  should  admit 
the  sting  that  will  torment  him,  the  scorpion  passions  that  will 
lash  him ;  but  when  the  King  of  glory  asks  for  admission  to  his 
heart,  he  says,  "  Be  so  good  as  to  call  another  day ;  we  are  too 
busy;  every  bed  is  occupied;  every  room  is  full;  we  have  no 
room  to  spare  for  our  Maker  and  the  Redeemer,  or  for  him  who 


THE  APPEAL  OF  LOVE,  491- 

would  save  us  :  I  have  bought  a  .piece  of  ground,  and  I  have  no 
time  to  attend  to  you ;  I  have  married  a  wife,  and  I  have  no 
,time  to  listen  to  you;  I  have  bought  five  yoke  of  oxen,  I  must 
needs  go  and  prove  them :  call  again,  to-morrow  perhaps  I  may 
hear  you  ;  at  present  I  cannot  admit  you.  I  am  not  at  home." 
He  will  tell  the  truth,  in  the  guise  of  the  common  lie,  "  I  am 
not  at  home."  The  reason  of  all  this  is,  the  consciousness  that 
if  you  were  to  admit  the  Saviour,  he  would  instantly  drive  out 
the  money-changers  and  those  that  sell  doves,  and  sweep  the 
house  of  that  which  makes  it  a  den  of  thieves.  But  you  do  not 
know  that,  if  he  did  so,  it  would  not  be  the  desolation  that  you 
anticipate ;  but  that  having  removed  these  he  would  inlay  it  with 
holiness  —  cause  it  to  shine  with  new  glory  —  fill  it  with  a  purer 
and  sweeter  atmosphere,  and  teach  it  to  enjoy  new  communion 
with  heaven,  with  happiness  and  joy  for  ever  and  ever.  Men 
continually  fall  into  this  great  mistake ;  they  think  that  if  they 
become  religious,  they  must  necessarily  become  miserable ;  because 
they  conceive  that  religion  demands  the  sacrifice  and  surrender 
of  the  object  which  they  now  love, — which  is  perfectly  true ;  but 
they  forget  that  the  same  religion  that  takes  away  the  things  that 
they  now  love,  which  hurt  them  and  are  sinful,  substitutes  for 
them  better  and  more  precious  things,  that  will  give  them  true 
and  everlasting  happiness. 

Review  the  whole  of  this  subject.  I  have  invited  you  to  look 
at  the  applicant ;  at  the  house  into  which  he  asks  to  be  admitted ; 
at  his  position,  and  at  our  treatment  of  him.  Now  do  not  say, 
while  I  am  speaking,  This  has  nothing  to  do  with  us  j  this  which 
the  minister  is  describing  does  not  concern  us;  he  is  talking 
about  something  which  occurred  in  Patmos,  or  in  Palestine,  or 
something  that  relates  to  a  world  beyond  the  stars ;  and  not  of  a 
subject  with  which  we  have  anything  to  do.  My  dear  friends,  I 
fear  that  the  constant  feeling  of  almost  every  man  while  he  hears 
the  Gospel  is,  that  it  is  a  description  of  something  at  a  distance 
from  him,  and  not  that  each  appeal  is  adding  to  him  new  and 
more  terrible  responsibility.  When  Christ  says,  "  I  stand  at  the 
door,  and  knock,"  it  is  literally  true.  I  wish  you  to  try  and  hold 
fast  this  fact ;  I  wish  and  I  pray  that  both  myself  and  you  may 
grasp  this  stupendous  thought,  that  the  Lord  of  glory  is  an 


492  THE  CHURCH  OP  LAODICEA. 

applicant  for  supremacy  in  every  heart  that  beats  in  this  vast  as- 
sembly, as  strictly  and  as  truly  as  if  that  individual  and  Christ 
were  alone  in  the  universe.  My  dear  brother,  young  man,  let , 
me  ask  you,  have  you  admitted  this  applicant  ?  Who  is  Lord 
over  your  conscience  ?  whose  law  do  you  obey  ?  for  his  servants 
you  are.  Whose  commands  do  you  accept  ?  whose  glory  do  you 
seek?  whose  honour  is  dearest  to  you?  Ask  yourselves  these 
questions  j  let  each  man  ask  himself :  it  is  a  question  involving 
the  most  momentous  issues.  I  do  not  wish  to  terrify  you  into 
the  Gospel,  because  I  do  not  think  this  is  God's  process ;  but  I 
dare  not  conceal  facts.  No  man  knows  that  he  will  see  to-mor- 
row's sun.  We  have  only  escaped  from  one  form  of  death  and 
disease  still  to  grapple  with  the  old  forms  in  which  death  ever 
comes.  What  an  awful  thing  would  it  be  that  a  soul  should 
emerge  from  its  ruin  to  meet  Christ  upon  his  throne,  and  there 
recollect  that  he  who  holds  the  sceptre  of  the  universe — he  who 
has  the  key  of  heaven  and  of  hell,  and  shuts  and  no  man  can 
open,  and  opens  and  no  man  can  shut — is  the  divine  Being  whom 
you  rejected  when  he  was  an  applicant  for  admission  and  supre- 
macy within  you ;  and  whom  you  now  meet  to  feel  the  full  mean- 
ing of  that  most  awful  of  all  awful  expressions — "the  wrath  of 
the  Lamb !" 

My  conviction  is,  that  one  great  cause  why  conversions  are  not 
multiplied,  and  why  a  deep  flood  of  feeling  does  not  roll  through 
every  heart,  and  overflow  with  contagious  sympathy  whole  con- 
gregations, is  that  we  have  not  each  vital,  personal,  vivid  concep- 
tions of  these  things  as  of  things  which  belong  to  each,  and  to 
each  alone ;  that  we  forget  that  the  minister  is  speaking  about 
what  concerns  me,  as  if  I  were  the  only  human  being  that  heard 
him.  We  all  know  that  if  a  very  heavy  load  is  to  be  carried  by 
several  men,  the  weight  of  the  load  is  so  distributed  that  each 
man  has  only  a  few  pounds  to  carry ;  so  the  larger  the  congrega- 
tion which  the  minister  addresses,  the  more  they  seem  to  feel 
that  the  responsibility  he  places  upon  them  is  thus  lightened. 
But  oh  !  my  dear  friends,  it  is  not  so.  Those  who  have  heard 
this  verse  read  this  night  will  retire  from  this  house  of  prayer, 
having  made  a  plunge  toward  hell,  or  having  unfurled  their  wings 
and  with  energy  taken  a  new  and  a  nobler  flight  to  glory  and  to 


THE  APPEAL  OF  LOVE.  493 

immortality.  Neutral  you  cannot  be ;  a  neutral  position  you  can- 
not occupy ;  your  responsibility  is  just  as  inseparable  from  you 
as  your  immortality.  This  text  will  meet  you  again.  You  may 
as  well  try  to  rid  yourselves  of  your  responsibility  to  God,  as  to 
rid  yourselves  of  your  association  with  this  truth  as  an  element 
of  happiness,  or  an  element  of  misery  and  of  woe.  My  dear 
friends,  let  us  each  try  to  comprehend  this  thought,  that  at  this 
moment  the  Son  of  God  is  just  as  near  to  thee  and  to  me,  as  he 
ever  was  to  Mount  Tabor,  to  Mount  Calvary,  or  to  Gethsemane, — 
to  Mary,  to  Peter  or  to  John.  "  Where  two  or  three  are  met  in 
my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them."  I  have  not  the 
least  doubt  that  the  Son  of  God  hears  what  I  say ;  and  that  he 
hears  the  faintest  pulse  of  the  heart  of  every  hearer  that  listens 
to  me ;  and  that  he  sees  the  shifts  which  that  young  man  is 
making,  and  the  evasions  which  that  young  woman  is  attempting, 
and  the  clever  escape  that  that  old  avaricious  sinner  in  that  corner 
has  discovered,  and  how  every  mind  is  at  this  moment  making 
some  excuse,  and  contriving  some  evasion,  to  stand  between  the 
appeal  of  the  text,  and  the  conscience  which  it  approaches  to 
disturb.  You  know  I  speak  what  is  true ;  you  dare  not  say  these 
statements  are  false ;  and  yet  you  dare  not  accept  them  as  truths, 
because  if  you  were,  you  would  have  to  resign  your  evil  prac- 
tices ;  and  yet  if  you  were  to  deny  these  to  be  truths,  your  con- 
science would  torment  you.  You  have  neither  the  peace  of  the 
believer  nor  the  peace  of  the  world;  you  occupy  the  border  land ; 
conflict  on  the  north  and  on  the  south  —  never  the  peace  that 
passeth  understanding.  May  the  Spirit  of  God  impress  this 
thought  upon  each  man's  conscience,  that  Christ  is  an  applicant 
at  that  man's  heart  for  admission,  sovereignty,  supremacy. 

In  the  first  place,  Christ  knocks  for  admission  by  the  voice  of 
reason.  He  uses  man's  reason  as  a  means  of  knocking  for  ad- 
mission to  the  supremacy  of  the  human  heart.  The  Bible  has 
borne  the  test  of  the  severest  analysis;  Christianity  has  stood 
the  most  searching  and  sifting  ordeals;  and  if  there  be  one 
book  upon  earth  that  courts,  not  dreads,  inquiry  —  if  there  be 
one  book  on  earth  that  comes  forth  from  the  furnace  brighter 
and  more  beautiful,  like  the  gold  that  has  left  its  oxide  only  be- 
hind it,  it  is  the  word  of  God.     More  than  this ;  there  is  not  a 

42 


494  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

young  man,  however  sceptically  disposed,  in  this  congregation, 
who  does  not  in  his  best  moments  see  and  know  that  it  is  a  rea- 
sonable thing  to  be  a  Christian.  Our  passions  may  say  what  they 
will,  our  companions  may  gibe  as  they  please,  and  others  may 
laugh  and  sneer  as  they  like ;  but  you  know  that  to  believe  the 
Gospel  is  a  rational  thing ;  and  you  know  that,  after  all,  to  be 
what  the  Gospel  bids  you  be,  and  what  God  offers  to  make  you, 
is  the  most  reasonable  thing  in  the  whole  experience  of  man. 
Men,  my  dear  friends,  are  not  first  sceptical,  and  therefore  im- 
moral ;  but  they  are  first  immoral,  and  then  they  are  sceptical. 
It  is  the  depraved  heart  that  makes  the  darkened  head ;  it  is  not, 
in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  the  darkened  head  that  makes  the  de- 
praved heart. 

In  the  second  place,  we  may  presume,  as  seems  perfectly  fair 
and  just,  that  he  appeals  to  us,  and  knocks  for  admission  by  our 
affections.  He  takes  our  affections  into  that  hand  which  was 
nailed  to  the  accursed  tree  for  us,  and  he  says  to  you,  "  I  have 
•loved  you  with  an  everlasting  love ;  I  died  for  you ;  I  shed  my 
blood  for  you ;  I  endured  the  accursed  tree  for  you ;  and  all  I 
ask  as  the  reward  of  my  travail  is  your  admission  of  me  into  your 
heart;  not  to  make  that  heart  miserable,  but  to  take  out  the 
poisoned  and  the  barbed  shaft  which  makes  it  miserable,  and  to 
plant  in  its  place 'that  which  will  make  it  unutterably  happy 
and  full  of  joy."  One  would  think  that  every  affection  of  man's 
heart  would  instantly  reply,  "  Come  in ;  most  welcome  art  thou. 
Prince  of  Peace ;  take  this  heart  of  mine,  and  make  that  heart 
thine  own." 

In  the  third  place,  Christ  knocks,  and  asks  for  admission  by 
the  conscience.  In  some  it  is  stupified ;  in  others  it  is  dead : 
but  when  conscience  is  touched  by  the  hand  of  the  Son  of  God, 
and  made  the  instrument  of  knocking  at  the  heart  of  man,  even 
in  the  most  desperate  cases,  it  speaks  in  tones  of  irrepressible 
and  piercing  eloquence.  In  the  case  of  Felix,  it  spoke  in 
thunder;  in  the  case  of  Agrippa,  in  a  still,  small,  subdued  voice; 
in  that  of  Judas,  it  overwhelmed  him  with  deep  and  terrible  des- 
pair. I  ask  you  now,  those  of  you  who  are  not  or  do  not  pretend 
to  be  what  is  called  purely  religious  persons, — ^you  who  come  to 
the  house  of  God  to  hear  what  you  call  a  good  sermon — those 


THE  APPEAL  OF  LOVE.  495 

■who  go  from  church  to  chapel,  and  from  chapel  to  church,  and 
from  both  to  cathedral,  to  hear  the  last  new  preacher — those  who 
have  no  religion — who  are  churchmen  but  not  spiritual  men, 
dissenters  but  not  Christians,  sermon  hearers  but  not  sermon 
feelers;  who  deal  with  God's  truth  as  the  cold-hearted  anatomist 
deals  with  the  muscles  and  members  of  the  human  body,  analyse 
and  criticise  without  a  spark  of  feeling, — to  your  consciences  I 
speak,  and  ask  if  there  are  not,  in  your  experience,  secret  and 
silent  watches  of  the  night — peculiar  moods  of  mind  which  you 
cannot  well  describe — when  some  mysterious  hand  seems  to  turn 
over  the  leaves  of  your  past  history,  and  some  mysterious  lamp 
sheds  its  full  and  intense  splendour  upon  it  j  and  while  your  con- 
science looks  at  those  leaves,  and  reads  them  in  that  light,  does 
it  not  tell  you,  even  while  you  are  stifling  it,  that  you  cannot  go 
on  in  this  way — that  matters  cannot  last  as  they  are  —  that 
death,  judgment,  eternity,  are  rushing  upon  you,  and  that  you 
must  prepare  to  meet  them ;  for  we  see  many,  many  taken,  of 
each  of  whom  it  might  be  said,  "Thou  art  weighed  in  the 
balance,  and  art  found  wanting;"  and  how  shall  you  appear  before 
God  ?  Are  you  not  at  times  overpowered  by  some  such  feeling  ? 
a  sort  of  melancholy  which  resembles  sorrow  only  as  a  mist  re- 
sembles rain;  which  makes  you  feel  that  something  is  wrong 
within  you,  but  you  know  not  what.  That  moment  is  the  still- 
ness which  Christ  has  created  within,  that  you  may  listen  and 
hear  his  knock  at  the  door  of  your  heart :  "  Behold,  I  stand  at 
the  door,  and  knock :  if  any  man  will  open,  I  will  come  in  and 
sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me." 

God  knocks  at  the  door  of  our  hearts,  by  and  in  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel.  You  recollect  that  beautiful  passage  in  the 
Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  which  so  plainly  conveys  this 
idea,  to  which  I  may  just  refer  you,  where  the  Apostle  says, 
"  We  then  are  ambassadors  for  Christ,  as  though  God  did  be- 
seech you  by  us :  we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconciled 
to  God."  When  you  hear  these  words,  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye 
that  are  weary  and  heavy  laden ;"  "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  ye  shall  be  saved;"  "  Why  will  ye  die  ?"  these  all  are 
the  appeals  of  the  Gospel  —  the  still  small  voice.  But  at  other 
times  it  speaks  to  you  in  difierent  accents,  "  How  shall  ye  dwell 


496  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

with  the  everlasting  burnings  ?"  "  The  wrath  of  God  is  revealed 
from  heaven  against  all  unrighteousness;"  "  Our  God  is  a  con- 
suming fire."  These  words  will  be  heard  by  you,  either  as  the 
crashes  of  insufi'erable  thunder  in  the  regions  of  the  lost,  or  as  the 
reverberations  of  that  perpetual  and  beautiful  song  in  the  realms 
of  the  blessed  for  ever. 

But  Christ  knocks  at  the  door  of  the  human  heart,  and  asks 
for  admission  by  his  providential  dealings.  What  was  that  blow 
which  swept  from  your  possession  the  near,  the  beloved,  and  the 
dear  ?  What  was  the  loss  of  so  much  and  so  hardly  earned  pro- 
perty, which  was  taken  from  you  without  a  moment's  notice  ?  It 
was  Christ  knocking  at  the  door  of  your  heart  for  admission. 
And  when  some  mother  in  this  assembly  watched  her  babe — that 
beautiful  flower,  first  transplanted  fi'ora  its  native  clime  into  the 
wintry  air — when  you  have  gazed  upon  it  in  the  agony  of  its  suf- 
fering—  (and  I  know  not  a  sight  more  touching  than  an  infant's 
sufiiering,  except  it  be  an  infant's  death)  —  and  when  you  have 
seen  the  dark  shadow  of  approaching  death  spread  itself  over  its 
tiny  brow — and  when  you  have  seen  the  spirit  emerge  and  leave 
its  shrine,  the  shrine  of  your  fond  idolatry  —  and  when  you  have 
followed  that  spirit  to  its  brighter  and  its  better  home,  did  you 
not  feel  as  if  a  part  of  your  own  life  had  departed  from  you  ? 
That  was  the  Son  of  God  knocking  at  that  mother's  heart,  and 
seeking  admission  to  supremacy  there.  And  when  you,  my  dear 
friends,  saw  lately,  as  many  of  you  did  see,  the  pestilence  sweep- 
ing down  its  thousands  around  you  —  when  it  seemed  as  if  some 
dark  angel  spread  and  flapped  his  wings  above  every  city  in  the 
empire,  and  those  you  knew  and  those  you  loved  were  cut  down ; 
the  more  you  felt  as  if  his  cold  breath  was  touching  yourselves, 
and  in  the  silence  and  solemnity  of  your  feelings,  you  all  felt 
about  God,  about  Christ,  about  judgment,  about  eternity,  as  you 
never  felt  before — what  was  it?  It  was  Christ  knocking  at  the 
door  of  the  nation's  heart,  seeking,  in  its  palace,  in  its  parliament, 
in  its  post-office,  sovereignty,  supremacy,  and  obedience  to  his 
control.  Such  dispensations  are  intended  to  subdue  and  melt. 
Sorrow  softens  the  heart,  as  the  dews  soften  and  saturate  the  soil ; 
and  then,  and  only  then,  love,  and  sympathy,  and  trust  gush 
forth  as  showers  from  summer  clouds.     The  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 


THE  APPEAL  OP  LOVE.  497 

in  such  dispensations,  empties  of  its  idols  the  heart  that  he  most 
tenderly  loves ;  and  having  made  it  cease  to  be  a  Pantheon  of 
gods  many  and  lords  many,  he  consecrates  it  to  be  a  holy  chancel 
in  which  is  one  priest,  one  sacrifice,  one  altar,  even  God  who  is 
all  and  in  all. 

What  was  the  recent  epidemic,  I  ask,  but  God  the  Saviour 
knocking  at  Great  Britain's  heart?  and  what  did  each  knock 
say  ?  "  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God  :  thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods 
but  me."  Thou  shalt  not  support  any  system  which  would  set 
up  other  gods  besides  me  :  thou  shalt  not  give  of  thy  national  trea- 
sury to  endow  that  which  displeases  me  by  its  adoration  of  saints 
and  angels  and  mediators  many,  and  intercessors  many.  What 
did  another  knock  say  ?  It  said,  "  Remember  the  Sabbath  day 
to  keep  it  holy :  six  days  shalt  thou  labour."  And  do  so  where  ? 
In  the  palace,  in  the  parliament,  in  the  post-office,  in  the  ware- 
houses ;  "  for  the  seventh  day  is  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy 
God;"  God  has  hallowed  it;  and  "in  it  thou  shalt  do  no  manner 
of  work ;  thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter,  thy  man-servant, 
nor  thy  maid-servant,"  nor  the  post-office  clerk,  "  nor  thine  ox, 
nor  thine  ass,"  except  in  works  of  necessity  or  mercy  j  for  these 
are  the  only  exceptions,  and  the  only  limitations,  and  if  either  of 
these  can  be  pleaded,  then  we  admit  the  propriety  of  labour,  be- 
cause "  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the 
Sabbath;"  but  if  there  be  no  necessity  and  no  mercy  in  it,  then 
it  is  a  deep  and  deadly  sin.  I  do  not  believe  that  our  statesmen 
and  governors  mean  to  desecrate  the  Sabbath  :  and  I  understand 
that  a  head  clerk  in  the  post-office  has  written  to  the  head  of  that 
department,  and  asked  this  question,  "  Am  I  compelled,  in  order 
to  retain  my  situation,  to  work  on  the  Sabbath  day  ?"  The  im- 
mediate answer  was  one  worthy  of  the  man  who  gave  it,  "  No, 
you  are  not."  Now  I  do  think  that  in  all  this  I  see  a  most  beau- 
tiful interposition  of  God.  The  fact  is,  if  wc  are  true  to  our  duty 
and  our  responsibility,  this  little  attempt  of  a  very  busy  man, 
occupying  a  very  subordinate  place,  to  commence  the  desecration 
of  the  Sabbath,  will  be  overruled  by  the  providence  of  God  to 
produce  the  stoppage  of  all  deliveries  on  the  Sabbath  day  in  every 
post-office  throughout  the  country,  and  letting  every  one  have 
the  Sabbath  sacred  and  holy  and  happy  to  himself.     What  a 

42* 


498  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

foolish  reason  is  that  which  is  urged  in  support  of  this  measure  ! 
Its  advocates  and  supporters  say,  "  The  letter  comes  to  London, 
and  is  delivered  on  Sunday  morning  at  the  post-office,  where  it 
lies,  and  the  London  merchant  gets  his  letter  on  Monday  morning 
at  10 ;  but,  as  no  mail  starts  till  Monday  morning,  the  conse- 
quence is  that  the  Liverpool  merchant  cannot  get  his  till  Monday 
night.  Thus,  they  say,  the  London  merchant  gets  the  news  of 
the  market  twelve  hours  sooner  than  the  Liverpool  merchant." 
Such  an  argument  would  no  doubt  have  told  with  some  men 
in  the  House  of  Commons  twenty  years  ago ;  but  it  will  not  have 
the  same  effect  now ;  for  we  have  the  electric  telegraph,  which 
carries  a  message  at  the  rate  of  288,000  miles  in  one  second ; 
and  if  this  be  employed,  the  Liverpool  merchant  will  not  be  be- 
hind the  London  merchant  by  the  five  thousandth  part  of  a  se- 
cond, if  he  only  uses  those  means  which  God  in  his  providence 
has  provided  in  order  perhaps  to  prevent  the  desecration  of  his 
Sabbath  and  the  transgression  of  his  command. 

Thus  Grod  knocks  at  the  door  of  a  nation's  heart.  But  let  us 
not  forget  that  he  does  not  therefore  cease  to  knock  at  the  indi- 
vidual heart.  The  patience  with  which  he  waits  is  no  greater 
wonder  than  the  love  which  first  prompted  him.  He  knocks  at 
your  heart  and  at  my  heart,  in  beautiful  Sabbaths,  in  earnest 
sermons,  in  all  the  eddies  and  windings  of  private  life,  in  all  the 
cataracts  and  convulsions  of  European  life;  in  our  joys,  in  our 
hopes,  in  our  anxieties;  in  all  incidents  and  accidents;  in  all 
gains  and  losses ;  in  all  that  is  little,  in  all  that  is  great,  Christ 
stands  at  the  door  and  asks  for  admission. 

I  cannot  detain  you  longer  to-night,  but  I  will  prosecute  my 
reflections  on  this  most  important  text — important  because  it  dis- 
closes so  much  love  in  the  heart  of  Jesus,  and  implies  such 
heavy  responsibilities  on  our  part  —  if  spared  to  another  Sabbath 
evening.  May  it  please  him  who  knocks,  that  we  may  each  bid 
him  welcome,  and  give  him  the  heart  which  he  may  justly  claim. 
And  to  his  name  be  the  glory.     Amen. 

Shepherd,  that  with  thy  loving  sylvan  song 
Hast  broken  the  slumber  which  encompaes'd  me, 
Who  mad'st  thy  crook  from  the  accursed  tree 
'  On  which  thy  holy  arms  were  stretoh'd  so  long, 


THE  APPEAL  OF  LOVE.  499 

Lead  me  to  mercy's  ever-flowing  fountains; 

For  thou  my  shepherd,  guard,  and  guide  shalt  be, 

I  will  obey  thee,  and  wait  to  see 

Thy  feet  all  beautiful  upon  the  mountains. 

Hear,  Shepherd  !  thou  who  for  thy  flock  art  dying, 

Oh  wash  away  those  scarlet  sins,  for  thou 

Rejoicest  at  the  contrite  sinner's  vow. 

Oh  wait!  to  thee  my  weary  soul  is  crying;    •■     ■* 

Wait  for  me !    Yet  why  ask  it,  when  I  see. 

With  feet  nail'd  to  the  cross,  thou  'rt  waiting  still  for  me  ? 


'ikb  -J'^'J 


LECTURE  XXXin. 


COMMUNION. 


"  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door,  and  knock :  if  any  man  hear  my  Toice,  and 
open  the  door,  I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me." 
—Ret.  iii.  20, 

Last  Lord's-day  evening  I  addressed  you  from  these  •words. 
I  presented  to  you,  first  of  all,  the  place  into  which  Christ  would 
enter — the  heart,  or  conscience,  of  the  individual  sinner;  once 
a  glorious  fane,  now  a  ruin — all  foul  reptiles  creeping  in  it — all 
impure  weeds  luxuriating  in  it;  and  only  here  and  there  sparks 
of  its  original  glory  bursting  forth,  to  reveal  how  grand  it  once 
was,  how  fallen  it  now  is.  I  noticed  too,  the  appeal  as  well  as 
the  position  of  our  Lord — "  I  stand  at  the  door,  and  knock."  I 
commented  on  the  fact  that  we,  on  our  part,  never  asked  him 
to  come  near  to  us.  There  is  nothing  in  us  to  attract  him.  His 
position  is  only  to  be  explained  by  himself — his  sovereignty,  his 
unmerited  love.  Man  courts  the  creature,  because  there  is  some- 
thing in  the  creature  beautiful,  or  lovely,  and  adapted  to  attract 
him.  God  contes  in  sovereignty  to  the  creature,  not  because 
there  is  in  the  creature  one  element  of  beauty,  but  in  order  to 
create  in  that  creature  all  the  elements  of  the  beautiful,  and  holy, 
and  happy. 

I  tried  to  consider,  in  the  next  place,  what  can  be  Christ's 
object  in  thus  standing  at  the  door  and  knocking.  Interpreted 
by  our  sins,  we  should  say,  to  condemn  and  to  destroy;  inter- 
preted by  his  love,  and  by  facts,  it  is  to  bless,  to  beautify,  and  to 
make  holy.  I  have  noticed  what  is  our  position  in  regard  to 
Christ's  position :  "  he  stands  at  the  door,  and  knocks."  Tho 
very  fact  that  he  stands,  and  knocks,  shows  that  there  is  in  us 

(600) 


COMMUNION.  501 

some  reluctance  to  open ;  we  do  not  open  the  instant  that  he  ap- 
plies for  admission.  How  strange  is  this  !  Satan  is  permitted  to 
take  possession  of  our  souls ;  all  evil  passions  cluster  about  the 
lintels  and  the  door-posts  of  that  house  at  which  Christ  knocks ; 
Mammon  presides  upon  the  threshold,  and  chants  the  praises  of 
money ;  and  Satan  has  a  passport  in  and  out,  when  and  how  he 
pleases.  But  the  Lord  of  glory  asks  for  admission,  for  reasons 
which  I  will  hereafter  specify,  and  we  answer,  "  Go  this  time,  I 
will  send  for  you  at  a  more  convenient  season ;"  "  Call  when  you 
pass  again  :  I  am  too  busy  to  attend  to  you  now ;"  "  I  have  other 
things  to  do ;  I  have  bought  a  yoke  of  oxen ;  I  have  married  a 
wife ;  I  have  purchased  a  farm :  I  will  send  for  you  another 
time." 

I  then  endeavoured  to  explain  to  you  the  instruments  by  which 
Christ  may  be  presumed  reasonably,  and  without  forcing  the  in- 
terpretation of  the  passage,  to  knock.  He  appeals  by  reason : 
"  Come,"  he  says,  "  let  us  reason  together."  The  most  reason- 
able thing  upon  earth  is  the  Gospel ;  and  the  next  reasonable 
thing  is  to  accept  the  Gospel ;  there  is  nothing  so  irrational  as 
scepticism  in  principle,  except  it  be  scepticism  in  practice ;  there 
is  nothing  so  reasonable  as  the  Gospel,  as  it  is  unfolded  in  the 
Bible,  except  it  be  the  welcoming  of  that  Gospel  into  the  heart 
in  order  to  be  implanted  and  impressed  there.  I  noticed,  too, 
that  he  speaks  to  us  by  the  affections.  The  whole  of  the  Gospel 
is,  in  my  judgment,  mainly  a  continuous  appeal  to  what  is  deepest 
and  tenderest  in  the  human  heart :  "  Lovest  thou  me  ?"  breathes 
from  the  cross,  from  the  grave,  from  his  ascension,  from  his 
intercession  at  God's  right  hand.  And  if  there  be  one  feature 
of  the  Gospel  more  prominently  distinguished  than  any  other, 
it  is  its  tendency  to  create  in  us  responsive  love,  and  its 
recognition  of  such  love  as  the  love  of  Christ.  We  love 
Christ,  because  we  see  in  him  —  in  his  cross  and  passion  — 
in  his  agony  and  oloody  sweat  —  in  his  death  and  burial, 
the  evidence  —  the  overwhelming  evidence  —  of  his  infinite, 
sovereign,  and  unmerited  love  towards  us.  I  noticed,  in  the  next 
place,  that  Christ  appeals  to  us  also  by  our  consciences.  What 
was  that  feeling  in  the  depths  of  the  soul,  as  the  shadow  of  some 
dark  recollection  swept  over  it,  but  Christ  saying,  "Behold,  I 


502  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

stand  at  the  door,  and  knock  ?"  What  is  that  leaf  turned  over 
by  a  mysterious  hand,  and  made  luminous  by  an  unearthly  light, 
in  which  you  read  the  condemnation  of  the  past,  but  amid  which 
you  can  all  but  see,  like  glowworms  amidst  the  darkness  of  night, 
lights  that  tell  you  and  reveal  to  you  forgiveness  for  the  greatest 
sin,  salvation  for  the  guiltiest  criminal  ?  All  this  is  Christ  knock- 
ing at  the  door  of  the  human  heart  for  admission. 

I  mentioned  also  another  instrument, — namely,  the  preaching 
of  the  glorious  Gospel.  "  We  are  ambassadors  for  God  :  as  though 
God  did  beseech  you  by  us,  we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye 
reconciled  to  God."  I  also  referred  to  another  instrument  by 
means  of  which  he  knocks  at  the  door  of  the  human  heart,  viz., 
his  own  providential  dispensations.  That  loss  which  left  behind 
it  so  dark  a  cloud,  so  deep  a  chasm ;  that  babe  which  you  lost  in 
all  its  beauty,  in  its  infancy,  when  you  watched  the  cold  shadow 
as  it  spread  over  its  brow,  and  at  last  saw  the  spirit  emerge  from 
its  cold  marble  shrine,  the  shrine  of  your  parental  idolatry, — that 
babe  thus  taken  from  you  in  its  bloom,  was  a  knock  by  the  hand 
of  love,  seeking  for  that  supremacy  which  even  your  babe  ought 
not  to  have  occupied,  and  which  belongs  to  Christ  alone.  The 
loss  of  your  property,  the  breaking  up  and  blasting  of  your  pros- 
pects—  all  these  things  are,  Christ  in  his  mercy  making  your 
bosom  cease  to  be  a  pantheon  for  a  thousand  gods,  in  order  that 
it  may  be  a  palace  for  himself,  and  asking  for  it  as  a  temple  in 
which  he  shall  be  priest,  and  sacrifice,  and  altar,  and  all  and  in 
all.  I  now  add,  what  I  ought  to  have  added  then,  but  to  which 
I  only  briefly  alluded,  that  the  last  and  most  powerful  instrument 
by  which  he  appeals  for  admission  is,  the  Holy  Spirit.  Men 
have  asked  me  to  prove  that  the  human  heart  is  corrupt.  I 
would  not  quote  a  text  to  prove  it,  though  I  might  quote  many ; 
but  I  would  quote  this  fact,  that  it  needed  not  only  God  in  my 
nature  to  forgive  me,  but  it  needs  still  God  in  my  heart  to  enable 
me  to  believe  that  fact,  even  upon  the  authority  of  God  himself. 
All  that  is  written  on  every  page  of  the  Bible — all  that  is  breathed 
in  every  promise  —  all  that  is  enunciated  in  every  threat  —  falls 
powerless,  absolutely  powerless,  upon  the  human  heart,  until  the 
God  that  inspired  the  Bible  takes  the  texts  he  has  inspired,  and 
makes  them  no  longer  to  be  in  word  only,  but  in  power,  in  man's 


COMMUNION.  509 

heart.  But  you  say  then,  If  it  need  the  Spirit  of  God  thus  to 
open  our  hearts  for  the  admission  of  Christ,  what  can  we  do  ?  I 
answer,  You  can  do  this;  you  can  refuse  to  admit — you  can  shut 
the  door — you  can  fasten  it  still  more  strongly — you  can  double- 
bolt  it :  you  can  do  all  this;  you  can  defy  God,  you  can  destroy 
yourself.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  power  still  left  in  man ;  but 
that  power  is  exerted  in  the  wrong  direction.  You  cannot  change 
your  own  heart ;  but  recollect,  the  deep  conviction  that  you  can- 
not do  so,  if  real,  will  be  followed  by  the  instant  evidence  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  has  done  so.  Paul  preached  the  Gospel 
at  Philippi ;  Lydia  was  one  of  his  congregation ;  it  is  told  us, 
not  that  Paul  opened  Lydia's  heart,  but  that  "  the  Lord  opened 
the  heart  of  Lydia,  to  receive  those  things  which  were  spoken  of 
Paul."  But  when  the  Spirit  of  God  acts  upon  the  human  heart, 
he  does  not,  as  I  told  you,  do  so  by  the  exertion  of  a  mechan- 
ical force.  Christ  might  command  admission  to  the  human 
heart;  but  instead  of  doing  so — instead  of  thundering  for 
admission  as  a  king,  he  prays  for  admission  as  a  suppliant; 
and  I  told  you  the  reason.  The  same  law  which  prevails 
in  the  constitution  of  our  country  prevails  in  the  higher  world. 
All  the  rains  of  heaven  and  all  the  winds  of  all  the  four  quarters 
of  the  globe  may  beat  into  that  .poor  man's  house,  but  the 
Queen  of  England  dare  not  enter  it  without  the  owner's  permis- 
sion. The  Lord  of  glory  seems  to  recognise,  in  the  palace  that 
he  once  made  so  fair  and  so  beautiful  for  himself,  some  remains 
of  its  aboriginal  magnificence  —  some  fragments  of  its  ancient 
sovereignty;  and  he  acts  as  if  he  would  not  enter  into  a  man's 
bosom  unless  the  owner  of  it  will  make  him  welcome.  Hence, 
the  Bible  tells  us  that  God's  people  '^  are  made  willing  in  the  day 
of  his  power;"  and  that  the  Spirit  of  God  works  within  us  "both 
to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure."  We  are  saved,  not 
against  our  wills,  but  with  our  full  consent  and  in  harmony  with 
our  wills ;  the  Spirit  works  in  us,  and  by  us,  and  through  us,  but, 
unquestionably,  he  does  not  work  dead  against  us.  We  have  the 
evidence  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Spirit  works  declared  by 
the  prophet  Hosea,  where  we  are  told,  "  I  drew  them  with  cords 
of  a  man,  with  the  bands  of  love  :  I  was  unto  them  as  them  that 
take  oflF  the  yoke."     "  With  cords  of  a  man,"  i.  e.  by  their  reason 


504  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

and  judgment,  or  rationally ;  "  bands  of  love,"  i.  e.  by  the  affec- 
tions. But  when  all  this  has  taken  place,  the  rational  attraction, 
the  affectionate  attraction,  there  is  superadded  —  and  without 
which  all  would  be  vain  —  the  omnipotent  attraction:  ^^  I  drew 
them  with  cords  of  a  man,  with  bands  of  love."  But  the  fact  is, 
whenever  we  begin  to  enter  into  metaphysical  reasoning,  in  order 
to  reconcile  God's  sovereignty  with  man's  responsibility  —  man's 
will  and  God's  will  —  we  are  puzzled,  perplexed,  "in  wandering 
mazes  lost."  But  the  simple  Christian,  who  believes  that  he 
can  do  nothing,  and  that  God  must  do  all,  or  nothing  will  ever 
be  done,  has  no  diflSculty  whatever;  he  feels  his  own  impotence, 
applies  for  aid  in  the  right  quarter  and  in  the  right  name,  and 
having  obtained  it,  he  rises  after  that  appeal  a  justified,  a  saved, 
a  sanctified  man. 

Now,  having  noticed  all  these  points,  I  wish  to  show  you  why 
men  do  not  open.  I  hare  told  you  by  what  means  Christ  appeals 
to  the  human  heart,  and  on  what  grounds  he  asks  for  admission. 
Why  is  it  that  men  do  not,  after  they  see  it  is  reasonable,  after 
they  feel  such  strong  attractions,  —  how  is  it  that  after  all  this, 
except  for  the  Spirit  of  God  working  in  sovereignty  and  with 
power,  they  do  not  admit  Christ  to  the  possession  of  their  hearts  ? 
Reason,  conscience,  religion,  all  plead  for  admission :  how  is  it 
then  that  we  still  resist?  It  is  because  the  heart  is  unsanc- 
tified  and  unsubdued;  and  till  the  Spirit  of  God  that  made  it 
shall  subdue  it,  it  is  enmity  against  God.  An  instinctive  apos- 
tasy is  in  every  one  of  us,  and  while  all  the  faculties  and  affec- 
tions that  we  have  urge  us  to  admit  Christ  to  supremacy,  the 
heart  hangs  back.  And  why  does  it  so  hang  back  ?  Not  merely 
because  it  is  enmity  against  hira ;  although  this  is  true  :  but  be- 
cause it  is  conscious  of  the  contrast  between  the  holiness  of  the 
sovereign  who  seeks  supremacy  within  it,  and  the  unholiness  and 
pollution  that  is  in  its  unsounded  depths  —  depth  aft«r  depth  — 
greater  than  man's  eye  has  ever  seen,  or  man's  tongue  has  ever 
declared ;  and  the  deepest  depravity  is  ever  the  highest  folly,  for 
it  keeps  out  the  light  which  would  reveal  it  to  be  what  it  really 
is,  wretched,  and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked,  and 
destitute  of  all  things.  But  no  one  needs  to  be  told  that  not 
seeiog  a  thing  does  not  make  that  thing  cease  to  be.    Not  having 


COMMUNION.        '^  605 

my  heart  revealed  to  me  as  it  is,  does  not  make  that  heart  cease 
to  be  what  God  has  declared  that  it  is.  I  have  read  of  a  Brahmin 
who,  in  arguing  with  a  Christian  missionary  on  the  claims  of  the 
Gospel,  objected,  amongst  other  things,  to  Christianity  because 
it  allowed  Christians  to  eat  animal  food,  which  he  believed  to  be 
unlawful.  When  the  missionary  visited  him,  he  was  eating  an 
exquisite  fruit,  fragrant,  delicious,  and,  in  that  climate,  refresh- 
ing. The  missionary  said.  You  advocate  eating  vegetable  diet 
only,  and  you  will  not  touch  animal  food.  It  is  only  your  igno- 
rance that  makes  you  believe  in  your  innocence  in  this  respect; 
for  if  your  sight  were  only  sharpened,  you  would  see  that  you  are 
even  now  eating  animal  food.  The  missionary  thereupon  took  a 
powerful  microscope,  and  revealed  to  him  the  fact,  that  while  ho 
prided  himself  that  he  was  eating  vegetable  food  only,  he  was  every 
moment  destroying  thousands  of  animalculae,  or  living  creatures. 
It  is  much  the  same  with  our  heart ;  it  is  enmity  to  God  —  in- 
volved in  apostasy  from  him ;  and  it  is  so  whether  it  be  revealed 
to  us  or  not.  Better  have  the  fact  revealed,  though  it  should 
shock  us  by  its  terrible  apocalypse,  than  remain  ignorant  of  the 
fact,  and  ignorant  therefore  of  the  only  prescription  that  can  alter 
and  restore  us. 

But  there  is  another  reason  why  man  shrinks  from  Christ 
coming  into  his  heart,  and  it  is  that  feeling  —  half-uttered,  half- 
suppressed  —  that  we  cannot  clearly  define,  and  that  we  dare  not 
plainly  divulge  —  that  we  do  not  realize  those  truths  which  the 
minister  insists  on  from  the  pulpit,  and  the  Bible  repeats  in 
strains  of  music  and  in  accents  of  thunder  from  almost  every 
passage.  We  fancy  that  justification  by  faith,  the  forgiveness  of 
sin  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  the  renewal  of  the  heart  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  Christ,  is  certainly  a  thing  most  expedient  and  appro- 
priate for  penal  settlements,  and  prisons  and  penitentiaries, — for 
the  oifscourings  and  outcasts  of  human  kind;  but  we  do  not 
believe,  though  we  do  not  openly  confess  and  say  so,  that  the 
Queen  of  England  herself  needs,  just  as  much  as  the  thief  in  his 
prison  and  the  convict  in  his  cell,  that  heart-change  which  alone 
can  fit  her  or  them  or  us  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  This  is 
not  the  dogma  of  a  party,  nor  the  mere  proposition  of  a  sect,  but 
it  is  the  announcement  of  an  immutable  and  everlasting  truth — 

43 


506  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

trae  in  all  ages — applicable  to  all  ranks,  "  Except  a  man  be  born 
again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God."  Do  not  shrink  from 
the  full  acceptance  of  this  truth  in  the  foolish  notion  that  you 
do  not  need  this  great  change.  You  need  to  be  turned  inside 
out ;  you  need  not  merely  to  be  patched  up,  but  re-made.  A 
Christian  is  not  a  patched-up  worldling  —  a  gap  closed  here,  and 
a  piece  removed  there,  and  a  better  piece  substituted  elsewhere  j 
but  he  is  a  man  in  whose  experience  all  things  are  become  new — 
his  principles,  faculties,  affections,  soul,  spirit,  are  all  made  new 
by  the  regenerative  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  Grod. 

But  there  is  another  reason  why  persons  do  not  admit  Christ 
to  the  supremacy  of  their  hearts,  and  it  is  Satan's  most  successful 
barrier  to  the  spread  and  progress  of  the  Gospel.  It  is  our  not 
refusing  Christianity,  or  saying  we  never  will  accept  the  Gospel, 
but  our  adjournment  of  it  till  another  occasion.  Our  passions 
will  not  let  us  accept  the  Gospel,  for  then  they  would  be  ex- 
tinguished, —  a  result  which  we  dislike  and  deprecate ;  our  con- 
science will  not  let  us  reject  the  Gospel,  for  then,  aware  of  its 
truth,  it  would  torment  us.  We  are  in  a  strait  between  two : 
and  in  this  suspension  of  our  judgment,  in  this  pause  into  which 
everlasting  destinies  may  be  compressed,  Satan  steps  in  and  says, 
"  Do  not  reject  the  Gospel,  for  I  see  your  conscience  would  not 
stand  that ;  do  not  accept  the  Gospel,  for  it  is  plain  your  lusts 
and  evil  habits  will  not  stand  this.  The  composition  of  forces 
will  lead  you  straight  through  it :  adjourn  it;  say  you  will  take 
the  matter  into  your  consideration  at  another  period."  This  is 
just  the  commencement  of  a  series  of  adjournments  that  are  ad- 
journed to  your  eternal  ruin  and  irretrievable  banishment  from 
God.  Procrastination,  like  a  fair  syren,  in  order  to  charm  you, 
will  make  an  appointment  to  meet  you  to-morrow,  and  then  and 
there  to  settle  the  controversy :  you  go,  and  you  meet  the  spirit 
indeed,  but  it  is  to  procrastinate  yet  further  to  the  next  day : 
then  you  meet  the  spirit  then  and  there,  and  lo !  it  is  to  pro- 
crastinate again ;  and  every  time  you  resist  the  appeals  of  your 
conscience  and  listen  to  "  to-morrows,"  you  become  more  able  to 
put  Christ  off,  till  at  last,  to  adjourn  the  thoughts  of  God  and  of 
the  safety  of  the  soul  becomes  the  habit  of  a  lifetime,  and  "  hell," 
in  the  words  of  an  old  puritan  divine,  "  is  paved  with  good  reso- 


COMMUNION.  60? 

lutions."  And  yet,  what  are  you  procrastinating?  If  it  were  the 
taking  of  a  nauseous  drug — if  it  were  the  undergoing  of  some  painful 
operation,  I  could  understand  it ;  but  you  adjourn  the  acceptance  of 
peace ;  you  procrastinate  the  happiness  you  might  now  have  in  order 
to  indulge  in  a  misery  and  wretchedness  and  dissatisfaction,  which 
you  know,  in  your  conscience,  is  your  almost  every  day  experi- 
ence. And  all  this  while  Christ  stands  at  the  door  and  knocks. 
In  the  beautiful  words  of  Lopez  de  Vega,  the  Spanish  poet — 

"  Lord,  what  am  I,  that  with  unceasing  care 
Thou  didst  seek  after  me, — that  thou  didst  wait, 
Wet  with  unhealthy  dews,  before  my  gate. 
And  pass  the  gloomy  nights  of  winter  there? 
Oh  strange  delusion ! — that  I  did  not  greet 
Thy  blest  approach ;  and  oh  !  to  heaven  how  lost. 
If  my  ingratitude's  unkindly  frost 
Has  ehill'd  the  bleeding  wounds  upon  thy  feet. 
How  often  thine  ambassadors  have  cried. 
'Soul,  from  thy  casement  look,  and  thou  shalt  see 
How  ho  persists  to  knock  and  wait  for  thee  I' 
And,  oh  !  how  often  to  that  voice  of  sorrow, 
'  To-morrow  we  will  open,'  I  replied, 
And  when  the  morrow  came,  I  answer'd  still,  *  To-morrow.' " 

And  so  it  will  be  to  the  end  of  time — "  I  will  send  for  you  at 
a  convenient  season," — and  that  convenient  season  never  comes. 
But  surely,  if  ever  all  things  around  us  were  in  alliance  with  the 
deepest  and  truest  convictions  and  impressions  with  us,  calling 
upon  us  to  open  and  admit  that  Lord  to  supremacy  in  our  hearts, 
it  is  the  moment  in  -which  we  now  live.  Famine  recently 
stalked  through  the  sister  land,  and  raised  and  left  behind  many 
a  grassy  hillock  where  all  was  a  dead  level  before.  Rebellion 
kindled  its  fires  and  unsheathed  its  weapons  at  home ;  and  only 
within  the  last  two  years  the  flower  of  England's  chivalry  was 
left  on  the  desert  sands  of  the  East.  Pestilence  lately  flapped 
its  wings  over  our  land,  and  dropped  deadly  poison  into  many  a 
heart.  And  what  is  all  this  but  the  Lord  of  glory  knocking,  not 
only  at  individual  hearts,  but  at  Great  Britain's  heart,  and  sound- 
ing in  her  ears,  where  those  ears  seemed  becoming  dead  and  deaf 
to  it,  "  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  God  but  me :  thou  shalt  not 
make  to  thee  any  graven  image,  nor  the  likeness  of  anything 


608  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

that  is  in  heaven  above,  or  in  the  earth  beneath :  thou  shalt  not 
bow  down  to  them,  nor  worship  them ,"  and  again,  sounding  in 
her  ear  which  seemed  deaf  to  it,  and  her  heart  which  seemed  to 
have  forgotten  it,  "  Remember  the  Sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy." 
It  was  Christ  knocking  at  Great  Britain's  heart,  calling  upon  her 
to  raise  the  Bible,  the  Sabbath,  the  Sanctuary  to  supremacy  in  her 
palace,  in  her  parliament,  in  her  colleges,  in  her  schools,  in  her 
post-office, — wherever  it  was  trodden  under  foot,  where  it  needed 
to  be  hallowed  and  embalmed  in  her  reverence,  and  surrounded 
by  her  sympathies.  And  what  have  been  all  the  convulsions  of 
Europe,  but  the  footfall  of  Christ  as  he  marches  to  take  the 
sovereignty  by  force,  which  so  many  hearts  are  refusing  to  con- 
fide to  him  ?  And  while  your  conscience  is  hesitating,  time  is 
rushing  into  the  ocean  of  eternity.  You  are  not  standing  hy  the 
stream,  looking  at  it ;  but  you  are  on  it,  carried  on  its  bosom,  and 
toward  that  sea  which  shall  be  unsounded  misery,  or  shall  be  a 
harbour  of  perpetual  joy. 

But  I  turn  now,  to  consider  the  rest  of  this  verse,  the  promise, 
"  I  will  come  in  and  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me" — i^  If  any 
man  will  open,  I  will  come  in  and  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me." 
I  wish  you  here  to  notice  what  Christianity  really  is,  what,  in 
short,  salvation  is.  It  is  not  the  making  of  a  thing  that  we 
have  not,  but  it  is  the  accepting  of  a  thing  already  provided  for 
us.  The  grand  peculiarity  of  the  Gospel  is,  that  we  receive  sal- 
vation— we  are  not  called  upon  to  make  it.  We  accept  a  perfect 
atonement;  we  having  nothing  to  do  with  maJcimj  one.  Christ 
calls  upon  us,  not  to  do  something,  nor  to  suffer  something,  nor  to 
pay  something  in  order  to  be  saved,  but  to  accept  salvation  in  all 
its  glory,  fulness,  and  perfection,  without  money  and  without 
price.  "  If  any  man  will  open,  I  will  come  in  to  him."  Having 
Christ  within  us  is  having  the  ground  and  basis  of  everlasting 
salvation.  You  have  nothing  to  do  preparatory  to  Christ  coming 
into  your  heart :  he  enters  the  heart  just  as  it  is,  and  then  he  makes 
it  just  as  it  sboiild  be.  Do  but  admit  the  King  of  glory,  and  then  he 
will  subdue  it  to  his  own  mind.  There  is  nothing  in  the  human 
heart  to  attract  Christ  to  it ;  and  there  is  nothing  in  the  worst,  the 
darkest  and  the  foulest  that  will  repel  him  from  it,  or  make  him 
discontinue  or  repent  the  blessed  process  which  he  has  been 


COMMUNION.  509 

pleased  to  begin.  All  he  asks  is,  not  that  you  should  prepare 
your  hearts  for  him,  or  form  them  for  his  approval,  or  wait  till 
they  are  better  before  you  open  them ;  but,  open-hearted  welcome, 
and  he  will  come  into  it,  just  as  that  heart  now  beats,  with  his 
grace  to  forgive  it,  his  strength  to  subdue  it,  and  his  Spirit  to 
sanctify  it,  filling  it  with  holiness,  and  making  it  beautiful  and 
happy  as  God  made  the  universe  when  he  pronounced  it  very 
good. 

He  says,  "  If  any  man  will  open ;"  it  matters  not  who  he 
is ;  whether  he  be  Jew  or  Greek,  barbarian,  Scythian,  bond  or 
free,  Ethiopian,  Turk  or  Egyptian,  Arab  or  African,  Hindoo  or 
Mussulman — there  is  no  nation,  or  tribe,  or  tongue,  to  which  his 
invitation  of  mercy  does  not  apply ;  there  is  no  graduated  scale 
of  human  guilt  with  a  zero  below  which  Christ's  mercy  will  not 
descend.  He  tells  us  that  "  his  blood  cleanseth  from  all  sin," 
"  If  any  man" — whatever  be  his  social,  his  national,  his  denomi- 
national distinctions  — "  if  any  man  will  open,  I  will  come  in 
unto  him,  and  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me."  But  who  says 
this  ?  The  Lord  of  glory  himself.  I  wish  you  all  to  feel  this  : 
these  words  are  just  as  true  and  as  real  as  if  lie  now  stood  here 
in  the  midst  of  this  assembly,  and  proclaimed  them  with  his  own 
voice.  In  this  text  is  suggested  the  difference  between  the  Chris- 
tian and  the  Master.  Moses  could  say  as  he  pointed  to  the  ser- 
pent of  brass,  "  Behold,  and  live."  But  Christ  alone  could  say, 
"  Come  unto  me."  Moses  and  John  and  Isaiah  and  Peter  could 
say,  "  This  is  the  way ;  walk  ye  in  it ;"  but  Christ  alone  could 
say,  "  I  am  the  way :  no  man  conieth  unto  the  Father  but  by 
me."  It  is  the  voice  of  the  bridegroom  himself  which  says,  "  IS. 
any  man  open,  I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  sup  with  him,  and  he 
with  me." 

We  see  the  true  and  characteristic  process  of  the  Gospel,  for 
the  sanctification  of  the  human  heart,  unfolded  and  comprehended 
in  the  principle  here  so  beautifully  enunciated.  To  purify  the 
human  heart,  to  remove  from  it  the  lusts  and  passions  which  do- 
mineer within  it,  is  not  to  be  done  by  preaching  against  these 
things.  We  shall  never  expel  a  single  lust  from  the  human 
heart  by  simply  preaching  against  it.  It  is  a  law  wrought  into 
the  very  constitution  of  humanity,  sustained  and  sanctioned  by 

43* 


510  THE  CHUECH  OF  LAODICEA. 

the  Spirit  of  God,  that  the  only  way  to  dislodge  the  passion,  the 
preference,  the  desire  that  is  evil,  is  to  bring  to  bear  upon  it  the 
power  and  influence  of  a  passion,  a  preference,  or  a  principle  that 
is  good.  It  is  what  Dr.  Chalmers  called,  in  his  own  peculiar  lan- 
guage, the  "  expulsive  force  of  a  new  affection."  We  are  to  dis- 
charge Antichrist  from  his  throne,  not  by  preaching  against  Popery 
only,  but  by  holding  up  Christ  in  his  glory  and  his  beauty.  We 
are  to  extinguish  the  inferior  earthly  light,  by  bringing  to  over- 
whelm it  the  brighter  and  the  more  glorious  lustre  of  an  unsetting 
sun.  We  are  to  dislodge  the  evil  that  is  in  us,  only  by  the  ap- 
plication of  the  good  that  is  in  Christ.  And  therefore  the  way 
to  make  the  heart  pure,  and  to  cleanse  it  from  the  sins  with  which 
it  is  polluted,  is  to  bring  the  Lord  of  the  temple  into  it,  that  he 
may  beautify  and  glorify  it  for  himself.  No  other  process  will 
avail.  One  man,  for  instance,  by  the  useful  efforts  of  the  teeto- 
tallers, is  made  to  cease  to  be  a  drunkard ;  but  if  he  do  not  be- 
come a  Christian,  just  as  sure  as  that  man  lives,  he  will  become  a 
sensualist  or  some  such  sinner ;  and  if  a  sensualist  is  induced,  by 
the  force  of  reasoning,  to  cease  to  be  a  sensualist,  he  then  be- 
comes, most  likely,  an  avaricious  man ;  and  if  he  is  led  to  abandon 
his  avarice,  he  will  take  up  some  other  grand  and  absorbing  pre- 
ference or  passion  in  its  stead  :  for  man's  heart  can  no  more  be 
without  a  sovereign,  than  heaven  can  be  without  a  God.  Man's 
bosom  was  made  to  be  a  palace ;  and  if  it  have  not  the  King 
of  glory  in  it,  it  will  have  Satan  the  usurper  in  it.  And 
80  long  as  you  seek  to  drive  out  one  characteristic  and  ruling 
passion  by  the  substitution  of  another,  or  merely  by  preach- 
ing against  it,  you  will  find  that  you  have  only  driven  out 
the  one  unclean  spirit  that  seven  others  may  come  in  and 
occupy  its  place.  But  you  are  not,  therefore,  to  say  that  it 
is  not  good  that  the  drunkard  should  be  made  sober,  or 
that  the  sensualist  should  be  made  pure ;  because,  though  you 
have  not  wrought  any  change  which  will  be  permanently  good, 
the  probability  is  that  you  will  bring  him  within  the  reach  of  the 
blessed  Gospel.  If  you  can  make  a  man  come  to  the  house  of 
God,  you  have  at  least  brought  him  within  the  means  of  grace ; 
but  as  far  as  the  fact  itself  goes,  if  you  expel  the  one  preference, 
you  only  leave  space  for  a  more  terrible  passion  to  come  in.    Just 


COMMUNION.  511 

on  the  same  principle,  that  when  fire  has  heen  sot  to  the  long 
grass  in  the  vast  prairies  of  America,  and  the  wild  Indians  ?oe 
the  immense  sheet  of  flame  travelling  towards  them  with  the  ra- 
pidity of  lightning  along  the  ground,  they  instantly  kindle  a  fire 
in  their  immediate  neighbourhood,  and  burn  all  the  dry  grass 
and  brushwood  for  a  few  hundred  yards  round  them,  and  when 
the  flame  reaches  that  spot,  there  is  nothing  left  for  it  to  feed 
upon,  and  thus  the  one  flame  extinguishes  the  other, — the  Divine 
prescription,  the  infallible  specific,  for  expelling  the  evil  spirits 
from  the  heart  of  man,  is  to  admit  the  King  of  glory  to  reign  and 
triumph  within  it. 

And  now  let  me  remind  you,  that  when  Christ  comes  into  the 
human  heart,  the  first  effects  of  his  approach  will  not  be  all  that 
you  could  desire.  No  man  has  so  dark  and  deep  a  conception  of 
himself  as  that  man  in  whom  the  work  of  grace  is  just  beginning. 
For  when  that  unutterable  light  enters  the  dark  shades  of  my 
heart  and  conscience,  it  will  reveal  to  me  depth  upon  depth,  evil 
upon  evil,  abyss  upon  abyss,  deeper  and  deeper  still ;  and  in  pro- 
portion as  the  soul's  eye  sees  its  sins  more  clearly,  will  the  soul's 
sensibilities  feel  them  more  acutely;  and  instead  of  being  con- 
sciously better,  happier,  more  at  rest,  you  will  at  first  feel  more 
miserable  and  wretched.  We  must  all  experience  a  deep  descent 
into  hell,  before  we  begin  our  ascent  into  heaven.  It  is  from  the 
extremest  point  of  our  own  depravity,  wickedness,  emptiness, 
ruin,  that  we  see  in  the  greatest  lustre,  and  in  the  richest  beauty, 
the  unsearchable  wealth  of  Christ.  But  after  this  storm  there 
will  be  a  calm.  "  I  will  come  in  and  sup  with  him,  and  he  with 
me" — i.  e.  I  will  not  only  do  them  good,  but  I  will,  make  them 
feel  that  I  am  doing  them  good.  Not  only  will  I  "  sup  with 
him,"  {.  e.  do  him  good;  but  "he  shall  sup  with  me,"  i.  e.  he 
shall  be  conscious  of  that  good.  Supper,  in  ancient  times,  was 
the  familiar  and  social  meal.  It  was  then  that  the  master  of  the 
feast  treated  all  his  guests  as  equals,  and  entered  into  familiar 
and  interesting  conversation  with  them.  It  is  thus  that  Christ 
comes  into  our  hearts  as  to  a  high  and  blessed  festival,  at  which 
he  manifests  himself  to  us,  and  we  are  made  to  see  that  manifes- 
tation. It  is  a  joyful  moment  when  the  Sun  of  righteousness 
shines  bright  upon  the  soul ;  its  withered  branches  are  clothed 


512  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

with  new  leaves  and  fair  blossoms,  and  its  long  silent  caves  are 
eloquent  with  new,  glorious,  and  inexhaustible  melodies;  and 
man  comes  to  learn  that  regeneration  of  heart  and  transforma- 
tion by  the  power  of  the  Gospel  is  not  a  mere  dogma,  a  mere 
matter  of  form  or  ceremony,  but  a  reality  full  of  peace  and  joy  in 
the  Holy  Ghost.  My  dear  friends,  this  is  Christianity :  Christ 
in  the  heart,  and  this  alone,  is  Christianity.  Christianity  is  not 
the  shibboleth  of  a  sect ;  it  is  not  the  dogma  of  a  school ;  it  is 
not  succession  from  the  Apostles ;  but  it  is  righteousness,  peace, 
and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  is  Christ  in  the  heart.  Be  not 
satisfied  with  standing  by  Christianity,  or  in  hearing  of  Christ ; 
but  feel  and  know  that  your  only  safety  is  Christ  in  you.  Be  not 
satisfied  with  subscribing  to  an  orthodox  creed  or  confession  of 
faith,  or  with  repeating  the  most  beautiful  Litany :  all  this  is 
consistent  with  the  absence  as  well  as  with  the  presence  of  Chris- 
tianity. But  open  your  heart — accept  him  who  knocks  and  seeks 
for  admission,  and  then  you  will  not  need  evidence  that  the  Bible 
is  true.  If  an  angel  were  to  come  from  the  realms  of  glory  and 
testify  that  the  Bible  is  true,  that  would  be  but  a  creature's  tes- 
timony; if  a  lost  spirit,  wrapped  in  his  flame-shroud,  were 
to  come  from  the  realms  of  the  lost  and  testify  in  tones  of  anguish 
that  Christianity  is  true,  that  would  be  also  a  creature's  testimony; 
but  when  a  man  is  turned  from  darkness  unto  light — once  dead, 
now  living  —  hateful  and  hating,  now  loving  and  beloved,  and 
bearing  on  his  brow  the  image  of  his  God,  and  in  his  heart 
Christ  the  hope  of  glory,  this  is  God's  testimony  that  Christianity 
is  true,  it  is  Divine  evidence,  the  most  consummate,  the  most 
convincing,  the  most  infallible.  Christ  in  you  will  make  your 
heart  a  Tabor,  and  every  day  a  transfiguration.  Old  age  may 
creep  over  you,  and  grey  hairs  whiten  your  head,  and  the  brow 
grow  wrinkled  like  the  brown  sea-sand  from  which  the  tide  of 
life  is  ebbing,  but  your  heart  will  feel  green,  and  young,  and 
buoyant,  and  the  longest  evening  shadows  will  point  nearest  to 
the  morning  twilight. 

Is  Christ  in  your  hearts  ?  Is  there  a  new  atmosphere  around 
you  ?  Is  the  cold  avalanche  that  once  chilled  and  compressed 
your  heart,  thawed  into  genial  sympathies  and  charities  that  will 
feed  and  refresh  all  around  ?     Are  the  sighs  of  your  heart  now 


COMMUNION.  518 

prayers,  and  its  joys  now  praise  ?  Is  it  calm,  quiet,  resting  in 
the  Lord  and  waiting  patiently  for  him  ?  Quiet  is  the  accom- 
paniment of  power  and  satisfaction.  The  full  soul  is  sUent;  it  is 
only  the  rising  and  falling  tides  that  rush  murmuring  through 
their  channels.  Such  a  heart  is  thankful  for  every  blessing  God 
sends,  and  ever  eager  for  any  duty  he  may  appoint. 

Christ  in  the  heart  will  surely  and  speedily  lead  to  Christ  in 
the  home  —  that  sanctuary  of  strength  —  that  source  of  a  pure 
and  noble  people — that  birth-place  of  yet  unimagined  possibilities 
of  good.  The  Saviour  in  the  soul  will  shine  out  and  illuminate 
all  around.  No  home  is  truly  beautiful,  till  rays  from  Tabor  and 
Gethsemane  and  Calvary  light  upon  it.  There  can  be  no  purely 
bright  scene  till  lighted  up  by  Christ's  smile,  nor  any  pure  joy 
that  is  not  kindled  by  his  breath.  When  he  is  all  and  in  all  in 
the  house,  all  things  become  changed.  Sickness  unlocks  new 
sympathies,  losses  are  met  by  new  heroism,  and  death  itself  is 
seen  and  felt  to  be  but  God's  process  of  colonizing  heaven  by 
selecting  for  it  the  choicest  specimens  of  earth. 

Christ  in  the  heart  will  ally  us  to  every  mission  of  love,  bene- 
ficence, and  grace,  till  that  "hope  of  glory"  which  Christ  is 
within  us  is  realized  in  that  blessed  rest  in  which  means  cease, 
because  the  end  is  attained,  and  all  discords  and  divisions  will  be 
lost  in  pure  and  eternal  harmony,  and  the  tree  of  life  and  the 
river  of  life  shall  be  the  joy  and  privilege  of  all  the  people  of 
God. 


LECTURE  XXXIV. 


THE  IMPORTANCE  OP  THE  INDIVIDUAL. 

"To  him  that  overcomcth  will  I  grant  to  sit  with  mo  in  my  throne,  even  as 
I  also  overcame,  and  am  set  down  with  my  Father  in  his  throne."  —  Kev. 
iii.  21. 

In  the  address  or  epistle  to  every  Church  of  the  seven,  there 
is  always  the  recognition  of  an  overcoming  one,  and  the  promise 
of  a  special  reward  to  him  that  thus  overcomes.  In  every  in- 
stance, the  promise  is  given  to  the  victor  only;  and  in  every  case 
we  are  led  to  see  that  the  victory  is  only  to  him  who  believeth 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ ;  "  for  this  is  the  victory  that  overcometh 
the  world,  even  our  faith."  And  this  teaches  us  too,  that,  if 
there  be  a  chronological  scale  in  the  seven  Churches, — if  they  be 
types  of  seven  successive  periods  in  the  history  of  Christianity — 
I  do  not  say  or  think  they  are,  though  some  do  so, — then  we  are 
taught  by  this,  that  in  every  age  a  Christian  must  expect  to  have 
conflict,  and  in  every  age  a  true  Christian  may  be  assured  that  he 
will  have  victory.  The  world  may  change  its  form,  it  may  be- 
come more  beautiful,  or  it  may  appear  more  friendly,  but  it  is 
the  world  still,  and  he  that  is  the  friend  of  the  world  is  the  enemy 
of  God.  By  the  world  I  do  not  mean  the  stones  of  the  earth, 
the  sweet  streams,  the  trees,  the  hills,  the  valleys  —  the  stars  of 
the  sky,  or  the  flowers  that  are  the  smiles  of  God  and  the  stars 
,of  the  earth :  these  are  not  sinful,  and  to  admire  them  and  to 
love  them  is  not  to  be  guilty  of  sin.  What  I  mean  bj  the  world 
is,  "  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eye,  and  the  pride  of 
life."  These  are  the  component  parts  of  the  world,  just  as 
righteousness  and  peace  and  joy  arc  the  component  parts  of  the 

(614) 


THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL.  515 

kingdom  of  God.  I  have  explained  to  you  before  the  nature  of 
the  Christian's  conflicts :  I  have  also  explained  to  you  the  re- 
sources and  the  secrets  of  the  Christian's  victory.  This  evening 
I  take  one  special  thought,  and  dwell  upon  it,  and  it  is  this ;  that 
while  the  whole  Church  or  corporate  body  of  Christians  is  re- 
buked, reprimanded,  encouraged,  exhorted,  advised,  the  promise 
is  always  made  to  the  individual.  For  instance,  in  chap.  ii.  10, 
"  Be  iliou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of 
life ;"  ver.  19,  "  To  Mm  that  overcometh ;"  ver.  26,  "  He  that 
overcoraeth  ;"  chap.  iii.  5,  "  He  that  overcometh  shall  be  clothed, 
&c.  j"  ver.  12,  ^^  Him  that  overcometh  will  I  make  to  sit  upon 
my  throne,"  —  and  so  in  each  of  the  epistles.  In  other  words, 
while  so  many  promises,  exhortations,  and  warnings  are  given  to 
the  body,  a  special  promise  is  also  given  to  the  individual  in  the 
body  that  overcomes.  Now  I  am  desirous  of  commenting  this 
evening  on  the  importance  and  value  of  the  individual.  We 
speak  much  of  corporate  bodies,  and  attach  to  them  great  im- 
portance. We  are  prone  either  to  over-estimate  or  to  under-esti- 
mate  the  individual. 

Now,  in  the  first  place,  it  is  possible  to  over-estimate  the  indi- 
vidual's importance.  Each  of  us,  at  one  season  of  his  life,  has 
had  a  grand  conception  of  his  own  excellence  and  value.  Many 
are  apt  to  think,  "  If  I  should  be  removed,  who  could  supply  my 
place  ?  Who  can  follow  me  ?  Nobody  can  do  my  duty  but 
myself;  and  if  I  be  removed,  the  machine  shops,  and  all  the 
noble  and  magnificent  results  will  instantly  disappear."  My  dear 
friend,  you  over-esteem  yourself.  The  fact  is,  very  few  will  miss 
you  when  you  are  gone ;  a  handful  will  go  about  the  streets  weep- 
ing, but  the  great  world  will  rush  on  just  as  it  has  rolled  before. 
It  is  quite  possible,  therefore,  for  you  to  disappear  from  the 
world  and  yet  scarcely  to  be  missed ;  and  when  God  removes  you, 
the  same  infinite  and  inexhaustible  resources  will  raise  up  a  nobler 
and  a  better  to  take  your  place. 

"The  gay  will  laugh 


When  thou  art  gone — the  solemn  brood  of  care 
Plod  on,  and  each  one  as  before  ivill  chase 
His  favourite  phantom." 


516  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

But  it  is  possible,  on  the  other  hand,  to  under-estimate  the  im- 
portance of  the  individual.  If  it  be  possible  to  have  too  lofty  a 
conception  of  our  own  value,  we  may  likewise  have  too  mean 
and  unworthy  a  notion  of  it.  Some  one,  perhaps,  looks  around 
him  upon  this  vast  world :  he  sees  it  peopled  with  busy  millions 
upon  millions,  to  whom  his  very  name  is  unknown,  and  he  says 
to  himself,  "  What  am  I  amid  so  many  ?"  He  gazes  into  the 
vast  expanse  of  the  firmament  above  him,  and  he  sees  clusters 
of  orbs  constituting  groups  revolving  around  suns,  and  those  suns 
with  innumerable  clusters  constituting  only  another  group  re- 
volving round  an  inuier  sUn  j  and  he  says,  "  What  am  I  in  the 
immensity  of  the  universe  ?  A  grain  amid  the  sands  of  the  sea- 
shore— a  bubble  on  the  face  of  the  ocean — a  spark  that  appears 
on  the  wave,  is  quenched,  and  disappears  for  ever." 

But  there  is  surely  a  correct  estimate;  and  the  importance  of 
coming  to  it  is  obvious  from  such  facts  as  these.  Some  under- 
estimating society  and  over-estimating  self,  and  thinking  that 
society  was  worthless,  and  that  the  individual  was  everything, 
have  left  the  duties  and  the  responsibilities  of  the  world  alto- 
gether; and  have  gone  with  Anthony  and  Jerome,  and  innumer- 
able monks,  and  have  spent  their  lives  in  deserts  and  caves  and 
mountains,  thinking  that  as  individuals  they  could  do  all,  and 
that  by  society  they  were  only  hampered,  discouraged,  or  inter- 
fered with.  Others  again,  supposing  that  the  individual  can  do 
nothing  at  all,  have  formed  themselves  into  bodies,  and  merg- 
ing the  personal  in  the  corporate,  have  become  mere  cogs  in  the 
vast  machinery — mere  cranks  and  pivots  in  the  great  system,  and 
have  lost  irretrievably  their  individual  dignity  and  importance  by 
merging  themselves  in  the  mass.  Let  us  look,  then,  at  the  true 
place  that  the  individual  should  occupy ;  and  in  order  to  do  so, 
you  must  look  each  at  himself,  not  insulated  and  alone,  but  in 
connexion  with  and  irf  relation  to  all  the  multitude  by  which  you 
are  surrounded.  The  pea-sand  is  made  up  of  innumerable  grains ; 
the  sea  itself  is  made  up  of  innumerable  drops ;  the  milky  way, 
which  seems  but  a  cluster  of  pure  brilliancy,  is  itself  a  group  of 
countless  stars.  The  body  itself  is  made  up  of  so  many  separate 
memberd.  Look  at  the  eye  alone,  separate  from  the  body;  you 
may  under-estimate,  you  may  over-estimate  it :  look  at  the  eye  in 


'  THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL.  617 

connexion  with  the  other  senses  and  members  of  the  body,  and 
you  see  its  true  and  its  important  place.  So  in  an  army  :  a  pri- 
vate soldier  drops  down  weary  with  the  march,  or  is  smitten  down 
by  tlie  shot  of  the  enemy,  and  he  is  scarcely  missed ;  but  if  each 
private  soldier  were  to  disappear,  the  whole  army  would  disappear 
altogether.  Thus  while  the  individual,  looked  at  alone,  insulated 
from  the  mass,  seems  comparatively  worthless,  the  individual,  as 
a  component  part  of  the  vast  host,  is  of  great  and  indispensable 
importance. 

It  is  thus  that  each  looking  at  himself  not  insulated,  absolute, 
and  alone,  but  as  part  and  parcel  of  a  system  to  which  he  contri- 
butes his  quota,  and  the  removal  from  which  of  that  quota  would 
be  a  mighty  gap,  will  see  how  it  is  possible  neither  to  over-esti- 
mate nor  to  under-estimate,  but  to  assign  to  himself  his  right 
and  his  true  position. 

We  must  also  recollect  that  each  of  us  is  necessarily  in  a 
family,  in  a  parish,  in  a  nation,  in  society,  and  has  therefore  some 
influence  of  some  kind,  and  that  influence  may  be  exerted  by  us 
unconsciously,  or  it  may  be  exerted  consciously  and  with  design ; 
but  in  either  case  we  can  no  more  denude  ourselves  of  leaving 
around  us  ceaseless  impressions  for  good  or  evil,  than  we  can  de- 
nude ourselves  of  our  responsibility  or  our  immortality.  There 
is  not  a  man  that  walks  the  streets,  who  does  not  go  home  in  some 
degree  modified  by  the  sign-boards  he  has  read,  the  shop  windows 
he  has  seen,  and  the  carriages  that  have  rolled  past  him  in  the 
streets.  There  is  not  a  child  that  walks  from  its  mother's  door 
to  our  day-schools,  that  has  not  stamped  upon  it  in  its  transit 
from  the  one  to  the  other,  impressions  that  will  be  lasting,  pro- 
bably, as  its  life.  And  when  men  talk  about  the  question  whe- 
ther society  should  be  educated  or  not,  they  should  remember  that 
society  never  was  left  without  education  from  Adam's  day  to  the 
present.  The  only  question  is,  shall  it  be  educated  on  the  prin- 
ciples that  unfold  to  it  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  or  on  the  princi- 
ples that  shall  deteriorate  it  below  what  it  is,  and  still  more  injure 
it  hereafter  ?  If,  then,  each  in  his  place  is  exercising  a  ceaseless 
influence,  let  us  recollect  that  each  individual  may  be  producing, 
consciously  or  unconsciously,  effects  of  the  greatest  importance. 
A  look  leaves  an  impression.     Every  word  that  you  utter  pro- 

44 


518  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

duces  its  echo  in  the  heart  or  conscience  of  some  one.  Every 
deed  that  you  do  leaves  an  indelible  shadow,  like  the  photographic 
light,  behind  it ;  and  every  one,  knowing  this,  should  try  never 
to  do  what  is  calculated  to  leave  behind  it  an  unfavourable  im- 
pression. And  yet  this  ought  not  to  be  the  criterion.  Be  good, 
and  you  will  always  seem  good.  Be  a  Christian,  and  the  influ- 
ence you  communicate,  conscious  or  unconscious,  secret  or  public, 
will  be  seen.  But  if  you  are  not  a  Christian,  you  may  screw  your 
face  into  the  most  orthodox  form,  you  may  put  on  the  most  ex- 
quisite and  beautiful  mask,  but  the  inner  corruption  will  break 
forth,  and  men  will  see  that  it  is  a  sham  —  an  hypocrisy — a  pre- 
tence, and  not  a  reality. 

It  is  thus,  then,  that  each  individual  in  his  place  is  leaving 
and  creating  influences,  and  is  therefore  possessed  of  greater  im- 
portance than  he  supposes ;  and  it  is  therefore  a  momentous  ques- 
tion, whether  he  be  a  Christian  or  not.  But  if  we  consider,  in 
the  next  place,  what  an  individual  may  do,  we  shall  see  how 
much  that  individual  may  effect  in  promoting  the  spread  of  the 
Gospel,  of  beneficence,  of  charity,  of  goodness.  We  shall  thus 
see  how  important  a  part  an  individual  may  play.  Now,  is  there 
not  a  general  opinion  amongst  us,  that  ministers  of  the  Gospel 
should  be  singularly  holy,  spiritual,  pure-minded,  and  devoted  ? 
The  impression  is  a  right  one ;  they  ought  to  be  so  j  but  remem- 
ber, they  ought  not  to  be  more  so  than  those  that  hear  them.  A 
Christian  minister  is  not  bound  to  be  one  whit  holier  than  a 
Christian  hearer.  We  are  all  bound  to  be  what  Christianity  pre- 
scribes, and  what  its  privileges  dictate  that  we  should  be.  But 
the  individual  by  his  ideas  of  the  minister  tries  to  lose  himself  in 
his  shadow.  He  magnifies  his  estimate  of  the  minister,  by  adding 
to  him  what  he  has  subtracted  from  himself.  And  thus,  think- 
ing that  he  is  of  very  little  importance,  and  that  the  minister  is 
of  very  great  importance,  he  infers,  logically  enough,  if  the  pre- 
mises be  correct,  that  little  can  be  expected  of  him,  and  that 
everything  must  be  expected  of  the  minister.  Now,  my  dear 
friends,  you  are  to  recollect,  in  contrast  to  such  notions,  that  each 
of  us  is  bound  to  be  just  as  holy  as  Christ  himself  "  Be  ye 
holy  as  I  am  holy,"  is  addressed  to  the  people,  as  well  as  to  the 
minister. 


THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL.  519 

In  the  next  place,  is  it  not  true  that  we  feel,  as  individuals, 
too  little  our  responsibility  to  aid  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  and 
missionary  exertion  ?  We  think  that  as  individuals  we  are  too 
insignificant ;  it  must  be  done  by  corporate  bodies,  by  congrega- 
tions, by  the  Church  Universal.  In  other  words,  you  have  the 
idea  that  a  congregation  ought  to  be  purely  receptive,  and  in  no 
respect  distributive.  You  come  and  join  this  congregation  just 
in  order  that  you  may  enjoy  privileges ;  that  you  may  get  your 
store  of  information ;  that  you  may  have  new  and  stronger  mo- 
tives inspired  into  your  hearts;  that  you  may  be  strengthened 
for  the  battle  of  life ;  that  you  may  be  enabled  to  be  more  than 
conquerors  through  Him  that  loved  you.  But  you  think  of 
nothing  beyond  this :  you  like  to  hear  the  reports  of  the  pros- 
perity of  our  schools,  and  you  enjoy  the  reports ;  but  you  do 
not  care  much  about  adding  to  the  prosperity  of  those  schools 
by  personal  effort  and  personal  sacrifice.  You  do  not  mind 
giving  attention  to  a  good  cause,  if  you  are  very  much  praised 
for  it;  but  how  few  in  a  congregation  think  of  originating  a 
good  cause  and  standing  by  it,  even  if  alone  in  the  midst  of  that 
congregation  !  My  dear  friends,  as  individuals  you  are  to  come  to 
the  church  to  receive  the  greatest  good ;  but  you  are  to  be  con- 
stant receivers,  that  you  may  be  constant  distributors.  You  are 
there  not  to  be  the  chief  recipients  of  love  and  joy  and  peace, 
but  to  be  the  active  and  untiring  distributors  of  all  that  can  bless 
mankind,  and  give  glory  to  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 
Let  all  serve  to  convince  you  of  this,  that  each  individual,  when 
he  associates  himself  with  a  Christian  church,  or  with  the  Church 
Universal,  enjoys  all  the  privileges  and  acquires  by  that  act  all 
the  responsibility  of  that  church.  Just  as  in  an  army  each 
soldier  ought  to  feel  that  the  honour  of  his  country  and  his 
sovereign  is  as  much  entrusted  to  him  as  if  he  were  the  only 
combatant  on  the  field  of  battle,  so  each  member  of  a  Christian 
congregation  ought  to  feel  that  the  spread  of  the  Gospel,  the 
maintenance  of  the  truth,  the  Christian  education  of  the  young, 
are  all  just  as  much  committed  to  him  as  if  he  were  the  only 
worshipper  in  that  audience,  and  the  only  advocate  and  professor 
of  the  Gospel  in  the  world.  And  it  is  by  each  individual  thus, 
as  it  were,  isolating  himself  in  thought  and  realizing  his  own  in- 


520  '  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

dividual  responsibility  before  God,  that  great  and  magnificent 
results  can  be  expected  to  be  attained.  In  order  to  show  you 
that  individuals  may  do  much  more  than  they  imagine,  and  ought 
to  do  much  more  than  they  do,  let  me  just  remind  you  of  this 
fact, — that  there  is  not  an  individual  in  this  congregation  whose 
place  in  society,  whose  peculiar  turn  of  mind,  whose  tempera- 
ment, powers  and  influence,  are  the  exact  copies  and  fac  similes 
of  the  same  things  in  another  individual.  Whatever  we  have  in 
common  is  Christ's ;  whatever  each  has  separately,  and  distinctly, 
and  peculiarly,  is  Christ's  also.  Each  individual  must  therefore 
try  to  ascertain  what  is  the  specific  talent  that  he  has,  and  then 
seek  to  consecrate  it;  what  is  the  specific  influence  he  can  exert, 
and  instantly  exert  it  for  the  truth ;  what  is  the  contribution 
that  he  individually  can  make  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  instantly 
set  about  making  it.  And  has  it  not  been  by  individuals  alone, 
and  by  a  deep  sense  of  individual  responsibility  in  the  midst  of 
the  mass,  that  the  greatest  good  has  been  done  ?  Those  tre- 
mendous excavations  on  the  railways  have  been  all  done  by  the 
exertions  of  individuals.  If  each  railway  labourer  had  foiled  to 
do  his  part,  the  whole  had  been  a  failure.  Those  steamers  are 
all  the  result  of  each  individual  taking  his  place  and  doing  his 
part.  Lord  Nelson  saw  the  importance  in  naval  tactics  of  what 
I  am  now  trying  to  illustrate,  when  he  said,  "  England  expects," 
not  the  ichole  fleet,  to  do  its  duty ;  that  would  have  failed, — but 
"  England  expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty."  He  tried  to  im- 
press upon  them  a  sense  of  the  duty  of  each  individual,  and  that 
to  each  man  was  committed  the  honour  of  England's  flag,  and 
that  with  his  cowardice  or  his  bravery  England's  freedom  would 
stand  or  fall.  And  John  Wesley,  who  was  as  great  in  his  de- 
partment as  Nelson  was  in  his,  said  that  the  true  way  for  Metho- 
dism to  flourish  was,  to  have  each  Methodist  employed  at  some- 
thing, and  always  employed.  lie  knew  that  it  was  by  making 
the  individual  feel  that  he  had  responsibility — that  he  had  some- 
thing to  do  —  that  he  should  make  the  whole  overcome  and  be 
more  than  conquerors. 

Perhaps  it  may  show  yet  more  the  force  and  therefore  the  im- 
portance of  the  individual,  if  I  point  out  that  it  was  always  by 
individuals  that  the  elements  of  corruption  have  been  introduced 


THE  LMPORTANCE  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL.  521 

into  the  mass.  You  do  not  find  whole  communities  become  all 
at  once  socially  and  universally  corrupt.  One  young  man  is  in- 
fected by  some  taint  from  without;  he  goes  and  mingles  with  his 
fellow-shopmen,  or  his  fel\ow-emplo7/^es,  and  then  communicates 
the  taint  he  has  received,  till  the  whole  mass  becomes  corrupt. 
Milton  saw  this  when  he  described  Satan  as  intimately  acquainted 
with  the  fact,  that  to  overcome  the  whole  race,  he  must  overcome 
first  the  individual ;  and  very  beautifully  does  he  thus  write  of 
Satan : — 

"  He  sought  them  both,  but  wish'd  his  hap  might  find 
Eve  separate;  he  wish'd,  but  not  with  hope 
Of  what  so  seldom  chanced ;  when  to  his  wish. 
Beyond  his  hope,  Eve  separate  he  spies, 
Veil'd  in  a  cloud  of  fragrance  where  she  stood, 
Half  spied,  so  thick  the  roses  blushing  round 

About  her  glowed 

.    .     .     .     Behold  alone,  said  he. 
The  woman,  opportune  to  all  attempts. 
The  husband,  him  I  view  far  off,  not  nigh. 
So  spake  the  enemy  of  mankind,  enclosed 
In  serpent,  inmate  bad,  and  toward  Eve 
Address'd  his  way." 

If  Satan  had  encountered  Adam  and  Eve  both  together,  per- 
haps he  had  failed ;  but  finding  one  alone,  he  saw  that  she  would 
be  more  likely  to  be  taken  in  the  snare  and  fall.  It  is  the  same 
in  what  is  good.  It  is  the  individual  becoming  first  acquainted 
with  the  truth ;  next,  conscious  of  his  responsibility  to  spread  it, 
and  seizing  on  individual  recipients,  that  truth  is  spread  with  the 
greatest  speed,  and  the  grand  cause  of  Christianity  promoted 
throughout  the  world. 

Thus  then  I  have  shown  you  that  whilst  you  do  not  over-esti- 
mate the  individual,  you  are  not  to  under-estimate  him.  You 
cannot  under-estimate  your  own  personal  excellence.  You 
cannot  over-estimate  your  own  personal  responsibility.  God 
does  not  ask  the  man  that  has  two  talents  to  bring  as  great  re- 
sults as  the  man  that  had  five;  but  he  asks  each  to  bring  the 
result  of  the  talent  that  God  has  given.  Now,  my  dear  friends, 
let  each  one  look  this  day  around  him  in  this  place :  let  him  look 
around  and  within  his  home — let  him  ascertain  what  point  he 
has  that  contrasts  with  his  fellow — what  influence  he  can  exert 
,  44* 


522  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

which  his  neighbour  cannot ;  and  let  him  see  that  on  him  de- 
volves the  duty  of  wielding  that  influence  to  the  glory  of  God 
and  the  spread  of  the  everlasting  Gospel.  "  To  him  that  over- 
cometh  will  I  grant  to  sit  with  me  upon  my  throne,  even  as  I 
have  sat  down  with  my  Father  on  his  throne."  This  leads  me, 
in  the  last  place,  to  notice  the  promise  here  given.  The  throne 
of  God,  we  are  told,  is  in  heaven;  God  says,  by  the  prophet 
Isaiah,  "  Heaven  is  my  throne,  and  earth  is  my  footstool." 
There  was  a  great  design  in  this.  He  did  not  say,  My  throne  is 
placed  in  the  sun,  the  moon,  Arcturus,  Orion,  or  the  Pleiades ; 
because,  if  he  had  done  so,  the  Jew  would  have  found  a  visible 
object  which  he  would  have  believed  to  be  the  seat  and  the  resi- 
dence of  Deity,  and  that  visible  object  would  have  become  the 
object  of  his  adoration  and  worship.  But  God  wished  to  teach 
the  Jew  that  no  visible  object  in  nature  was  the  exponent  of 
him.  There  was  no  one  spot  consecrated  to  be  his  peculiar  and 
exclusive  dwelling-place.  He  taught  the  Jew  when  he  worshipped, 
to  lift  his  heart  above  all  that  is  seen  and  temporal,  and  to  feel  it 
to  be  but  a  type,  while  he  rejoiced  to  worship  amid  the  unseen 
and  the  eternal.  So  when  Jesus  said,  "All  power  is  given  unto 
me  in  heaven  and  in  earth,"  he  said,  substantially,  "  I  am  set 
down  with  my  Father  on  his  throne :"  I  am  raised  to  all  power 
as  Mediator :  I  am  exalted  to  that  glory  which  I  had  with  my 
Father  before  the  world  was,  and  I  am  there  for  you,  to  plead 
your  cause,  to  represent  your  interests,  and  to  superintend  those 
interests  till  time  shall  be  no  more.  Beautiful  thought !  a  portion 
of  our  dust  is  enshrined  in  glory  !  The  first-fruits  of  our  common 
humanity  is  placed  upon  the  throne  of  Deity !  Jesus  never  can 
forget  the  orb  he  trod,  the  world  he  breathed  on,  the  race  for" 
whom  he  died.  It  seems  to  me  that  this  earth  is  the  Mary,  or 
the  Martha,  or  the  Lazarus  amid  the  orbs  ©f  creation ;  it  is  the 
planet  "  which  Jesus  loved,"  and  to  show  that  he  did  so,  he  has 
carried  a  portion  of  its  dust  into  the  presence  of  Deity ;  a  per- 
petual memento — a  glorious  pledge  that  creation  shall  be  redeemed 
from  its  groans  and  rescued  from  its  travails;  and  having  been 
pronounced  "good"  when  it  was  made,  shall  be  pronounced 
again  "  very  good"  when  it  shall  be  finally  restored. 

Now,  says  our  Lord,  "  He  that  overcometh  shall  share  with  me 


THE  IMPORTANCE  OP  THE  INDIVIDUAL.  52S 

my  throne."  "Father,  I  will  that  those  thou  hast  given  me  be 
with  me  where  I  am,"  i.  e.  or  my  throne,  **  that  they  may  behold 
my  glory."  In  Christ  is  our  safety ;  /or  Christ  is  our  duty ;  with 
Christ  is  our  everlasting  happiness.  At  present  we  "see  through 
a  glass  darkly ;"  then  we  shall  "  see  him  face  to  face :"  and  "  wo 
shall  be  like  him,  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is."  Where  Christ 
is  visibly  and  personally  now  we  cannot  say.  As  I  told  you  on 
the  morning  of  this  day,  I  do  not  see  the  necessity  for  supposing 
that  heaven  is  above  or  below.  The  fact  is,  what  we  call  above 
and  below  is  mere  phraseology  j  what  is  above  at  midday  is  below 
at  midnight,  and  ever  as  the  earth  revolves  upon  its  axis  they 
change  and  interchange  places.  It  may  be  that  the  souls  of  those 
that  we  love,  severed  from  their  earthly  tenements,  walk  amid 
our  homes,  watch  over  us  in  our  travels,  mingle  silently,  but  no 
less  sweetly  and  eloquently,  their. hymns  in  our  worship;  and 
that  we  are  farther  removed  from  our  absent  brothers  who  are  in 
Australia,  in  India,  or  even  in  Scotland,  than  we  are  from  our 
dead  fathers,  mothers,  brothers  and  sisters,  whose  souls  may  walk 
the  world,  and  see  and  hear  us,  though  we  can  neither  see  nor 
hear  them.  We  know  not,  I  say,  at  present,  where  heaven  is ; 
but  wherever  it  be,  it  is  happiness — perfect,  unalloyed,  unspeak- 
able happiness.  He  that  overcometh  shall  enjoy  that  happiness, 
for  he  shall  sit  with  Christ  on  his  throne.  Here  again  we  have 
the  evidence  of  grace  :  "To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  give  to 
sit,"  &c.  He  conquers,  and  yet  he  does  not  merit.  It  is  a  free- 
will grant  to  the  last.  The  least  and  the  loftiest  mercy  is  of 
grace.  Our  first  absolution  and  our  last  coronation  are  equally 
of  grace.  All  we  are,  all  we  have,  and  all  we  do,  is  "  not  of 
works,  lest  any  man  should  boast:  it  is  of  the  grace  of  Christ 
alone." 

And  then  the  Saviour  adds,  "  as  I  also  overcame,  and  am  set 
down  with  my  Father  on  his  throne."  This  indicates  some  com- 
muning between  Christ  and  them  that  are  his.  And  that  prayer 
of  his  recorded  in  John  xvii.  will  illustrate  this  promise,  "  I  pray 
that  all  may  be  one ;  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee" — 
I  seated  on  thy  throne,  and  they  with  me,  and  heaven  and  earth 
constituting  one  happy  and  glorious  brotherhood.  But  what  is 
meant,  it  may  be  asked,  by  Christ  overcoming  ?     The  answer  ia 


524  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

given  by  the  Apostle,  in  Hebrews,  where  he  says,  "  Christ  was 
made  perfect  by  suffering ;"  and  then  he  adds,  "  if  we  suffer  with 
him,  we  shall  also  reign  with  him."  In  other  words,  there  is  no 
royal  road  to  that  throne ;  there  is  no  path  to  it  on  which  there 
is  not  a  cross,  and  on  which  thorns  are  not  growing.  We  must 
all  through  much  tribulation,  social  or  personal,  pass  to  the  king- 
dom of  heaven.  And  Christ  himself  now  occupies  that  throne, 
to  keep  it  for  us  :  "I  go,"  he  says,  "  to  prepare  a  place  for  you; 
and  I  will  come  again,  and  receive  you  unto  myself." 

And  now,  what  is  the  way  to  have  our  hearts  less  set  upon  the 
world  ?  It  is  to  have  them  more  set  upon  these  promises.  Read 
all  the  promises  in  succession,  as  addressed  to  each  of  the  seven 
Churches ;  bind  them  all  together,  and  you  have  the  rest  and  the 
glory  that  remain  for  the  people  of  God,  Whatever  may  be 
specified  in  each  of  these  eloquent  promises,  —  or  whatever  may 
be  its  minute,  its  material,  and  its  distinguishing  meaning,  —  we 
can  say  of  them,  each  and  all,  they  are  "  exceeding  great."  They 
are  the  first-fruits  of  that  glorious  harvest  which  shall  be  reaped 
by  many  a  pilgrim  who  has  sown  in  tears ;  they  are  the  grand 
truths  of  God  imprisoned  in  the  formulas  of  human  speech ;  the 
rays  of  which  break  through  and  give  us  some  conceptions  of  the 
splendour  that  is  yet  before  us.  Bring  together  the  whole  of  the 
promises  given  to  the  seven  Churches,  and  they  constitute  the 
sparkling  gems  of  our  heavenly  crown,  and  Christ  is  the  focus  in 
which  all  their  splendour  and  their  beauty  are  concentrated. 

Stand  then,  my  dear  friends,  by  these  bright  hopes,  animated 
and  sustained  by  these  pure  and  holy  motives.  In  the  language 
of  the  Apostle,  "Let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set 
before  us."  If  all  the  past  in  your  experience  is  dark,  the  future 
is  perfectly  open,  and  it  waits  to  be  filled  by  you ;  what  you  make 
it,  it  will  be  by  the  grace  of  God.  If  the  silent  shadow  of  lost 
opportunities  sits  cold  upon  you;  if  the  memory  of  rejected  mer- 
cies and  abused  privileges  drips  upon  your  hearts  like  rain-drops 
from  wintry  branches ;  if  all  that  you  can  think  of  in  the  past  is 
melancholy,  sad,  oppressive;  look  forward  —  the  future  is  open, 
waiting  for  you  to  impress  upon  it  what  shall  make  it  beautiful 
as  prayer  can  desire,  or  full  of  calamity  and  curse  as  Satan  can 
wish  it. 


THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL.  525 

Turning,  then,  our  backs  upon  the  past,  and  seeking  only  ab- 
solution for  it  through  the  blood  of  Jesus — let  us  raise  our  faces 
to  the  future,  and,  looking  to  Jesus  still,  let  us  run  the  race  that 
is  set  before  us  in  the  Gospel ;  for — 

"Life  is  real  —  life  is  earnest; 

And  the  grave  is  not  its  close; 
"Dust  thou  art,  to  dust  rcturnest,' 

Was  not  spoken  of  the  soul. 

"Not  enjoyment,  and  not  sorrow, 
Is  our  destined  end  and  way; 
But  to  see  that  each  to-morrow, 
ilnds  us  further  than  to-day." 


LECTURE  XXXV. 


THE    LAST  APPEAL. 


"  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  chnrches." 
—Key.  iii.  22. 

To-night  I  give  tny  closing  Lecture  on  the  epistles  to  the 
seven  Churches  of  Asia.  On  this  last  verse  I  wish  to  make  some 
closing  practical  remarks,  though  all  have  been  meant  to  be  prac- 
tical, and  I  trust  have  been  more  or  less  applicable  to  you  all.  It 
appears  that  there  were  originally  twelve  churches  in  Asia,  and 
not  merely  seven.  The  question  has  been  asked  again  and  again, 
How  is  it  that  John  speaks  of  the  existence  of  only  seven,  but  is 
silent  on  the  existence  of  the  other  five  ?  Further,  it  has  been 
very  naturally  asked,  Why  he  writes  to  these  seven  not  as  to 
seven  churches  selected  from  the  twelve,  but  as  to  the  seven 
churches,  as  if  they  were  the  only  existing  churches  in  Asia? 
The  other  churches  which  are  known  to  have  existed  in  Asia,  are 
the  Church  of  Tralles,  to  which  Ignatius,  an  uninspired,  but  early 
father,  writes  an  epistle ;  the  Church  of  Magnesia,  to  which  he 
also  writes;  the  Church  of  Miletus;  the  Church  of  Hierapolis; 
and  the  Church  of  Colosse,  to  which  the  Apostle  Paul  has  written 
an  epistle.  Now  the  question  is.  Why  does  the  Apostle  select 
seven  out  of  the  twelve,  and  leave  Tralles,  Magnesia,  Hierapolis 
Miletus,  and  Colosse,  without  any  epistle  addressed  to  any  of 
them  ?  and,  Why  does  he  call  seven  that  he  selects  vot  seven  se- 
lected because  pre-eminent,  but  the  seven,  as  if  these  were  the 
only  existent  churches  in  Asia  ?  The  following  facts  have  been 
ascertained  j  and  the  discovery  of  these  facts  proves,  if  indeed  it 
needs  proof,  that  the  Apocalypse  was  written  at  the  date  at  which 
it  assumes  to  have  been  written,  i.  e.  about  the  year  96 ;  and  that 

(526) 


THE  LAST  APPEAL.  527 

it  was  written  by  one  who  was  placed  in  the  circumstances  in 
which  John  the  Seer  or  the  Evangelist  was  placed.  We  are  per- 
fectly convinced  of  all  this  on  other  grounds,  but  it  is  not  unim- 
portant to  bring  every  incidental  fact,  to  make  appear  to  you 
more  clear  and  obvious  the  great  truth,  that  any  or  all  of  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  are  not  only  given  to  us  as  they 
were  written,  but  are  authentic,  and  were  written  by  the  persons 
whose  names  they  bear,  and  at  the  time  and  date,  and  under  the 
circumstances  now  universally  believed.  Eusebius,  an  ancient 
Greek  historian,  in  a  work  called  his  Xpovixbv,  which  is  a  mere 
chronological  summary  of  events  and  facts,  and  in  no  respect  of  a 
controversial  character,  states  that  three  cities,  Laodicea,  Hiera- 
polis  and  Colosse,  were  destroyed  by  an  earthquake  in  Nero's 
reign ;  in  other  words,  that  these  three  cities  were  destroyed  pre- 
vious to  the  date  at  ^hich  John  wrote  the  Apocalypse ;  but  you 
will  perceive  among  the  three  that  are  said  to  have  been  destroyed, 
he  places  Laodicea,  to  which  John  records  an  address  or  epistle ; 
and  you  will  be  prepared  to  conclude,  on  hearing  this,  that  my 
quotation  proves  too  much,  for  it  would  prove  that  Laodicea  must 
have  been  also  non-existent  at  the  date  of  the  Apocalypse.  John 
has  recorded  and  recognised  the  existence  of  Laodicea,  thougli 
Eusebius  states  that,  in  common  with  the  other  cities,  it  was  de- 
stroyed by  an  earthquake. 

An  incidental  extract  is  found  in  a  heathen  historian  who  hated 
Christianity,  and  called  it  "execrabilis  superstitio" — "a  hateful 
superstition,"  namely  Tacitus,  in  which  he  makes  the  following 
statement :  see  Annals,  book  xiv.,  ch.  27:  "  This  year  (Nero  6th,) 
Laodicea,  a  famous  city  of  Asia,  having  been  destroyed  by  an 
earthquake,  was  rebuilt  without  any  aid  from  us,  (Rome,)  and 
solely  at  its  own  expense."  Now  you  see  how  clearly  the  reason 
comes  out,  why  John  should  have  written  to  Laodicea,  but  not 
to  Hierapolis  and  Colosse.  Tacitus  says  nothing  of  the  two  last ; 
the  presumption  is,  therefore,  that  their  ruins  lay  as  the  earth- 
quake left  them ;  but  he  expressly  states,  without  any  reference 
to  any  religious  question,  or  to  anything  in  the  Bible,  that  one 
city,  Laodicea,  was  rebuilt.  John  found  it  rebuilt,  and  records 
an  epistle  to  it.  He  found  Colosse  and  Hierapolis  in  ruins,  and, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  there  is  no  epistle  to  them.     Now  do  you 


528  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

see  how  beautifully  Eusebius,  the  Christian  annalist,  not  thinking 
of  the  Apocalypse  at  all,  and  Tacitus,  the  heathen  infidel,  who 
had  no  more  idea  of  it  than  he  had  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  disco- 
veries in  astronomy,  both  accidentally,  as  the  world  would  say,  but 
as  we  know  under  the  pressure  of  the  Providence  of  God,  relate 
a  fact  that  shows,  eighteen  centuries  afterward,  why  two  cities 
were  not  addressed,  namely,  Hierapolis  and  Colosse,  and  why 
Laodicea  which  had  suiFered  with  them  was  addressed — this  cir- 
cumstance arising  from  its  having  been  rebuilt,  prior  to  John's 
writing  the  Apocalypse.  So  all  that  is  writtei!  by  man  will  yet 
attest  the  truth  and  grandeur  of  what  is  written  by  God. 

I  have  now  disposed  of  two  cities,  and  reduced  the  number  to 
ten.  The  question  is  now,  Why  docs  John  record  epistles  to 
seven,  and  leave  Tralles,  Magnesia,  and  Miletus,  the  remaining 
three,  without  any  epistle  addressed  to  them  ?  Again,  we  have 
facts  of  a  no  less  conclusive  character,  that  throw  light  upon  this. 
Miletus,  it  is  evident  by  an  existent  epistle  from  ApoUonius 
[Apollon.  Tyan.  Ep.  68,]  to  the  Miletians,  was  also  destroyed  by 
an  earthquake,  and  the  Christians  in  it,  as  being,  according  to 
the  popular  superstition,  the  cause  of  the  earthquake,  were  com- 
pletely exterminated.  This  alone  disposes  of  the  Church  of 
Miletus.  As  to  those  of  Magnesia  and  Tralles,  we  have  no 
evidence  that  there  was  a  Christian  Church  in  either  of  these 
places,  previous  to  the  date  of  the  Apocalypse :  but  we  have 
evidence  that  the  Churches  of  Tralles  and  Magnesia  existed 
after  the  date  of  the  Apocalypse.  We  read  of  the  existence 
of  these  churches,  but  we  know  just  as  clearly,  from  some 
allusions  that  I  will  specify,  that  they  were  founded  after  the 
date  of  the  writing  of  the  Apocalypse.  Thus,  for  instance,  a 
Bishop  of  Magnesia  is  addressed  by  Ignatius  in  his  Epistle  to 
that  Church ;  and  in  that  Epistle,  which  I  perused  only  yester- 
day, I  found  allusions  additional  to  those  which  Mr.  Knight  has 
cited  in  his  able  pamphlet,  to  which  I  am  much  indebted.  I 
find  that  Ignatius  writes  to  the  Bishop  of  the  Magnesians  as 
having  ^awopivtiy  vtui-ttpixriv  ta^w,  [cap.  iii.  p.  179,  Patr.  Apost. 
Opera  Tubingse,  1847,]  a  "  conspicuously  recent  arrangement," 
or  an  "  episcopate  of  very  recent  formation ;"  thus  proving  (as 
he  probably  wrote  this  some  little  time  before  a.  d.  106,  or  later) 


THE  LAST  APPEAL.  529 

that  the  Church  of  Magnesia  was  not  existent  when  John  wrote 
the  Apocalypse,  A.  D.  96 ;  but  that  in  the  course  of  ten  yean 
afterwards  this  Church  had  an  episcopate  or  ecclesiastical  govern- 
ment, recently  or  lately  founded.  And  again,  Ignatius,  writing 
to  the  Church  of  Tralles  about  a.  D.  106,  calls  them  frjnioi,  which 
means  "beginners,"  just  recently  made  acquainted  with  the  ele- 
ments and  first  instructions  of  the  Gospel :  and,  when  he  speaks 
to  Polybius,  the  bishop  or  minister  of  that  Church,  (and  I  may 
mention  that  a  bishop  in  those  days  was  not  what  we  understand 
by  a  bishop  in  these  days ;  he  was  a  very  poor  man,  with  a  very 
small  chapelry  or  episcopate,  and  probably  a  very  small  congre- 
gation, and  still  less  stipend,  and  still  less  splendour,  working 
very  hard,  never  having  heard  of  sinecures,  non-residence,  plu- 
ralities, and  other  novelties ;)  he  speaks  of  hira  as  having  been 
lately  at  Smyrna,  where  he  was  minister  or  bishop  previous  to 
his  transference,  —  not  to  a  richer  living,  but  to  a  more  perilous 
and  arduous  cure,  5;'  ttapiyiveto  eeX/;fia-tt  ®sov  iv  Xfivpvt}  their  bishop, 
"who,  with  the  will  of  God,  was  present,"  or  "who  attended  to 
the  will  of  God  in  Smyrna,"  (as  if  he  had  been  comparatively 
young  when  sent  to  Smyrna,) — to  take  the  oversight  of  the 
Church  of  Tralles.  He  therefore  calls  upon  the  Christians  of 
Tralles  to  pay  him  great  deference,  not  to  treat  him  harshly,  but 
to  give  him  great  obedience  and  reverence.  Thus  we  infer  that 
the  Church  of  Miletus  was  destroyed,  and  Christianity  uprooted, 
before  John  wrote  the  Apocalypse.  We  discover  next,  from  in- 
ternal evidence  in  the  epistles  of  Ignatius,  that  the  Church  of 
Magnesia  was  founded  several  years  subsequent  to  the  writing  of 
the  Apocalypse ;  and  the  presumption  is,  that  the  Church  of 
Tralles,  from  the  allusion  of  Ignatius  to  the  youth  of  its  bishop, 
and  his  having  been  recently  labouring  in  Smyrna,  was  also 
founded  after  the  close  of  the  first  century.  We  thus  give 
reasons,  why  these  five  Churches  were  omitted;  and  we  thus 
prove  that  the  Seven  Apocalyptic  Churches  were  not  seven 
selected  out  of  twelve  cotemporaneous  churches  existing  in  Asia 
in  the  days  of  John,  but  were  the  only  existing  ones,  and  there- 
fore, THE  seven  Churches  of  Asia ;  and  thus  from  extraneous 
sources  we  gather  rays  of  light,  indicating  the  facts  of  Revelation, 
and  in  this  the  earnest  of  that  grand  result  with  which  prophecy 

45 


630  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

is  bnrdenedj  when  all  heathen  historians,  doubting  skeptics, 
geologists,  astronomers,  and  botanists,  critics  and  poets,  and  all 
men,  shall  come  and  testify  in  one  loud  acclaim,  that  what  God 
has  written  is  true. 

Having  noticed  these  very  important  facts,  I  now  address  you 
on  the  words  which  I  have  read ;  words  which  sum  up  all  that  is 
said  to  each  of  the  churches,  and  which  are  therefore  specially 
applicable  and  appropriate  in  a  closing  address  upon  duties  and 
responsibilities  in  connexion  with  what  we  have  heard. 

Of  all  preached  from  the  pulpit,  read  from  the  press,  and 
heard  on  the  platform,  the  prescription  is, — "  Take  heed  what  ye 
hear ;"  but,  of  all  written  in  the  Bible,  spoken  by  Christ,  recorded 
by  the  Spirit,  it  is  written,  "  Take  heed  how  ye  hear."  The  first 
may  be  truth  mingled  with  error,  and  it  is  your  duty,  there- 
fore, to  discriminate  and  separate  the  precious  from  the  evil ;  the 
last  is  pure  unadulterated  truth,  and  the  responsibility  lies,  not  in 
discriminating  where  there  is  nothing  to  discriminate,  but  in  how 
we  hear  and  receive  it.  Vast  importance  seems  to  be  attached 
throughout  the  Bible  to  that  very  minute  organ  the  ear.  "  He 
that  hath  an  ear  to  hear,  let  him  hear,"  is  constantly  repeated  in 
the  Apocalypse ;  "  faith  cometh  by  hearing,"  Again,  says  the 
prophet,  "  Hear,  and  your  soul  shall  live."  The  ear  is  the  chan- 
nel for  the  entrance  of,  perhaps,  weightier  and  more  impressive 
things  than  the  eye ;  certainly  it  is  the  medium  of  far  intenser 
emotions,  for  who  knows  not  that  the  word  heard  is  more  power- 
ful and  impressive  than  the  word  read  ?  Does  not  the  living  voice 
of  the  living  speaker  come  home  with  greater  and  more  thrilling 
emphasis  than  the  dead  letter  of  the  mute  type  ?  Let  us,  then, 
consider  why  every  one  that  has  an  ear  should  hear,  obey,  and 
accept  those  catholic  truths  which  are  addressed  to  all  Christians 
in  the  epistles  to  the  seven  Churches  of  Asia.  The  first  ground 
on  which  this  appeal  is  placed  is  this,  the  high  and  unquestionable 
authority  of  the  speaker,  (or  rather  writer,)  namely,  the  Lord 
Jesus.  Even  those  that  were  his  passionate  and  partial  hearers 
in  the  days  of  his  flesh,  were  constrained  to  say  as  they  listened 
to  those  lofty,  dignified — those  pure  and  yet  simple  utterances  of 
Jesus, — "  Never  man  spake  like  this  man."  Even  those  that 
reported  what  he  said  to  the  Pharisees,  anxious  to  please  the 


THE  LAST  APPEAL.  531 

masters  who  paid  them,  were  constrained  to  say,  "  He  speaks  not 
like  the  Scribes,  but  as  one  having  authority."  No  one  can  listen 
to  the  teaching  of  Jesus  as  recorded  in  the  New  Testament, 
without  rising  with  the  conviction,  "  There  is  here  indeed  the 
language  of  a  man,  but  loaded  with  the  richness,  the  grandeur, 
and  the  authority  of  the  sentiments  of  God."  If  any  of  you 
have  ever  read  any  of  the  speeches  of  Socrates  as  recorded  by 
his  disciple,  you  will  see  how  he  guesses,  conjectures  and  hopes, 
that  this  may  be  true,  or  that  may  be  false ;  or  if  any  of  you  ever 
read  Cicero,  who  approached  the  nearest  in  his  longings  to  the 
Christian,  and  who  caught  some  beams  of  the  rising  sun  from 
the  lofty  pinnacle  in  the  heathen  world  on  which  he  stood,  you 
will  notice  how  he  hopes  that  this  is  true,  and  says  of  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul,  that  if  he  cannot  prove  it,  as  he  admits  he 
cannot,  yet  so  dear  and  delightful  is  the  thought,  that  he  is  de- 
termined to  die  grasping  it,  even  if  he  has  failed  logically  and 
conclusively  to  demonstrate  it;  but  when  Jesus  speaks,  the 
language  is  simple,  it  is  true,  but  the  assertion  is  unfaltering,  and 
unalloyed  with  the  least  element  of  conjecture, — "I  say  unto 
you."  I  may  notice,  too,  another  evidence  of  the  grandeur  of 
the  character  of  Jesus,  and  the  depths  from  which  he  speaks. 
When  an  ordinary  man  tells  of  wonderful  things,  he  is  excited 
by  them,  and  he  dwells  upon  them,  and  loads  the  thought  he  is 
anxious  to  convey,  by  expressive  and  accumulative  imagery,  and 
apparent  anxiety  to  make  his  word  be  believed ;  but  when  Jesus 
speaks  of  things  in  the  height  and  in  the  depth,  such  as  ear 
never  heard,  he  does  so  with  the  calmness  and  the  self-posses- 
sion which  indicates  not  only  that  "  never  man  spake  like  him," 
but  that  he  speaks  as  God  might  be  expected  to  speak  when  he 
employs  human  speech,  and  addresses  the  sons  of  men.  He 
spoke,  too,  with  an  accompanying  emphasis  that  gave  what  he 
said  an  authority  that  none  else  could  claim,  for  to  attest  his  mis- 
sion he  wrought  miracles  and  gave  proof  of  a  beneficence  and 
power  exclusively  God's.  He  only  could  say,  "  Ye  winds,  which 
I  laid  by  the  wave  of  my  hand ;  ye  billows,  on  whose  crested 
heads  I  laid  ray  finger  and  ye  were  still ;  ye  blind,  whose  sight- 
loss  eyeballs  I  opened ;  ye  deaf,  whoso  ears  I  unstopped ;  ye  dead, 
whom  I  raised  from  corruption  and  restored  to  your  homes;  thou 


532  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

grave,  which  I  rent  open  in  spite  of  thy  struggles  to  retain  me ; 
thou  death,  whom  I  conquered  when  thou  thoughtest  thou  hadst 
a  victim,  and  didst  find  that  thou  hadst  received  a  vanquisher; 
thou  air,  which  didst  open  a  passage  for  me  in  my  ascent  to  the 
skies;  ye  angels,  who  welcomed  me  to  your  starry  homes;  ye 
apostles,  who  preached  what  I  bade  you  in  my  name,  and  overthrew 
enemies,  and  removed  obstructions,  and  did  many  marvellous  works; 
ye  barbarians  now  civilized ;  ye  broken  hearts  bound  up ;  ye 
weepers  comforted  ;  ye  sinners  forgiven ;  ye  saints  and  martyre, 
harping  before  the  throne,  and  in  the  presence  of  God ;  —  come 
and  witness  who  it  is  that  speaks  to  you,  and  by  whose  hand  it 
was  that  ye  were  thus  stirred;"  and  wind  and  wave,  and  death 
and  the  g»ve,  and  apostle  and  saint,  and  civilized  and  barbarian, 
come  at  his  bidding,  and  with  one  consent  embody  their  confes- 
sion in  the  words  of  Nicodemus,  "  Rabbi,  we  know  that  thou  art 
a  teacher  come  from  Grod,  for  no  man  can  do  the  works  which 
thou  doest,  except  God  be  with  him."  It  is  thus  we  see  in  the 
teaching  of  Jesus  a  weight  and  an  emphasis  that  is  in  the  teach- 
ing of  no  other,  and  because  such  an  one  speaks,  "  he  that  hath 
an  ear  to  hear,  let  him  hear." 

The  second  ground  on  which  I  base  this  appeal  is  the  vast  im- 
portance of  the  subject.  What  is  the  subject  about  which  Christ 
speaks  to  us  ?  If  he  told  us  how  to  make  money,  or  how  to  get 
fame,  or  to  become  learned  in  the  wisdom  of  this  world,  it  would 
be  of  some  importance,  but  I  do  not  think  that  such  a  process  is 
worthy  of  being  announced  to  all  mankind,  or  that  it  warrants 
such  a  prelude  as  "  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear ;"  but  what 
Christ  says  is  "not  a  vain  thing,  —  it  is  your  life;"  nay  more, 
that  Gospel  which  you  hear  from  the  pulpit  is  to  every  man  that 
hears  it,  "a  savour  of  life  unto  life,  or  of  death  unto  death."  I 
know  of  no  fact  more  solemn  than  this,  that  you  may  enter  this 
house  careless,  but  you  cannot  leave  it  without  your  responsibility 
being  increased ;  that  your  having  been  here  will  tell  either  on 
your  everlasting  ruin,  or  on  your  everlasting  bliss.  If  you  hear 
of  the  way  to  escape  from  the  one,  and  the  way  to  inherit  and 
enjoy  the  other,  it  is  your  own  guilt  that  you  perish.  If,  then, 
this  be  so,  —  if  this  blessed  Gospel  be  that  testimony,  ignorance 
of  which  is  ruin,  the  rejection  of  which  is  to  reap  a  deadlier 


THE  LAST  APPEAL.  533 

cnrse,  while  the  acceptance  of  it  is  to  receive  a  crown  of  glory; 
if  it  be  that  message  which  is  worthy  of  all  acceptation  of  all 
men  in  all  countries,  and  of  all  the  faculties  of  the  mind,  and 
of  all  the  feelings  of  the  heart,  and  under  all  circumstances, — 
then  the  splendour  of  the  reward  it  offers,  the  dreadful  nature 
of  the  hell  it  bids  you  flee  from,  —  the  height  and  magnificence 
of  the  truths  it  addresses  to  you,  excelled  only  by  the  magnifi- 
cence to  which  they  point,  are  eloquent  and  urgent  reasons  why 
every  one  that  has  ears  to  hear,  should  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith 
unto  the  churches. 

I  base  this  appeal  upon  the  fact,  that  every  one  is  called  upon 
to  investigate  the  claims  which  this  Gospel  makes.  The  Gospel 
of  Christ  challenges  inquiry  —  it  invites  discussion.  It*does  not 
ask  you  merely  to  accept  it  upon  the  authority  of  God,  which  it 
has  a  right  to  do;  but  it  appeals  to  you  as  reasonable  men, 
"Judge  ye  whether  these  things  be  so  or  not."  Its  appeal  to 
our  reason,  and  its  ever  satisfying  it  where  it  can  be  satisfied,  is 
a  grand  peculiarity  of  the  Gospel.  If  the  Apostle  had  been 
satisfied  with  saying,  Christ  died  a  sacrifice  for  our  sins,  and  said 
so  upon  the  authority  of  God,  that  would  be  sufficient  ground  for 
receiving  it ;  but  he  is  not  satisfied  with  this  —  he  proceeds  to 
show  you  how  it  was  impossible  that  man  should  be  justified 
othewise,  and  then,  by  the  closest  logical  proof,  how  it  is  possible 
that  man  can  be  justified  thus;  and  hence  the  Gospel  is  not 
simply  a  tesiimony  that  you  receive  on  the  authority  of  him  that 
gave  it^  but  it  is  an  appeal  also  to  your  conscience,  your  judg- 
ment, and  your  heart,  —  to  what  is  deepest  within  you,  —  asking 
you  to  weigh,  investigate,  and  decide  accordingly.  Of  all  sys- 
tems assuming  to  be  divine,  Christianity  alone  courts  the  light. 
Mahometanism  may  seek  the  haunts  and  caves  from  which  its 
prophet  came;  Romanism,  the  system  whose  turrets  sparkle  in 
the  crystalline  light  of  heaven,  whose  caves  and  dungeons  are 
so  dark  and  deep,  may  shrink  from  the  light  because  it  is  based 
upon  error,  cemented  by  blood,  gives  glory  to  man  and  detracts 
it  in  proportion  from  God;  but  Christianity  —  not  the  Chris- 
tianity of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  or  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, but  the  Christianity  of  the  Bible  —  demands  inquiry.  It 
feels   that   it   will    reap    the    most   glorious    laurels   when    its 

45  » 


534  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

claims  and  assertions  are  expiscated  with  clearest  and  most 
unsparing  analysis ;  and  if  it  could  speak  to  us  in  the  words  and 
use  the  names  of  modern  times,  it  would  summon  Newton,  the 
investigator  of  the  sky;  Buckland  and  Sedgwick,  the  explorers 
of  the  geological  strata  of  the  earth ;  it  would  call  upon  Cuvier 
the  naturalist,  Davy  the  chemist,  Kepler  the  mathematician,  Gib- 
bon and  Hume  and  Allison  the  great  historians,  prince  and  peer, 
peasant  and  monarch,  all  who  have  made  or  read  the  researches 
of  men,  or  felt  the  deep  wants  of  humanity,  or  are  capable  of 
discrimination, — "whosoever  hath  an  ear  to  hear," — to  come  and 
see  that  this  blessed  book  hath  God  for  its  author,  truth  for  its 
matter,  and  eternal  glory  for  its  blessed  and  its  certain  issue.  In 
order  to  examine  the  claims  of  Christianity,  and  in  order  to  in- 
duce you  to  do  so,  I  must  repeat  what  I  have  already  alluded  to. 
You  must  not  take  Christianity  as  represented  in  any  creed,  how- 
ever excellent  that  creed  may  be  —  no  one  values  a  creed  in  its 
place  more  than  I  do,  but  I  must  put  it  in  the  creed's  place.  The 
difference  between  a  creed  and  the  Bible  is  just  the  difference 
between  flowers  painted  or  delineated  in  a  system  of  botany,  and 
flowers  that  bloom  in  the  broad  acres  where  God  has  planted 
them.  However  beautiful  these  creeds  may  be,  they  are  not 
Christianity  —  they  are  but  extracts  from  it  —  precious,  and  in 
their  place  valuable,  but  broken  fragments  still.  In  examining 
the  claims  of  Christianity,  in  searching  for  its  origin  whence  it 
is,  you  must  still  less  take  any  of  the  "  isms"  of  any  age ;  neither 
Calvinism,  Arminianism,  nor  Episcopacy,  nor  Presbytery;  you 
must  value  Christianity  as  it  breathes  and  lives,  and  is  portrayed, 
or  rather  speaks,  in  every  page  of  God's  own  blessed  word.  You 
are  not  to  hear  Christianity  in  man's  diluted  echo,  but  in  God's 
own  grand  original  voice.  Nor  are  you  to  draw  Christianity  from 
the  consecrated  urn,  however  beautiful  it  may  be,  but  from  the 
fountain  of  living  waters,  which  God  himself  has  unsealed ;  and 
when  you  have  tasted  these  waters,  subject  them  to  any  test  — 
try  them  by  any  analysis — look  at  them  from  any  angle — submit 
them  to  any  ordeal,  and  you  will  find  they  are  living  waters  that 
come  from  the  throne  and  lead  up  to  the  throne  again;  and 
therefore,  let  every  one  that  hath  an  ear  to  hear  come  and  bear, 


THE  LAST  APPEAL.  *  535 

and  every  one  that  is  athirst  come  and  take  the  water  of  life 
freely. 

Not  only  are  we  to  hear  on  these  grounds,  but  we  are  also  to 
do  or  carry  into  practical  development  the  momentous  truths  we 
hear.  I  have  sometimes  read  remarks  in  the  papers  of  the  day 
to  the  effect,  that  on  the  Royal  Exchange  is  transacted  all  the 
traffic  and  the  business  of  the  world ;  that  in  the  Parliament  of 
England  are  discussed  questions  that  affect  Europe,  Asia,  Africa, 
America, — in  short,  every  part  of  the  globe;  but  if  this  be  true 
of  these,  it  is  much  more  of  the  humblest  Christian  assembly  in 
the  world,  that  on  the  floor  of  that  meeting-house,  chapel,  church, 
or  cathedral,  is  transacted  and  sealed  and  settled  business,  in- 
finitely more  important  than  senators  ever  dreamed  of  or  dis- 
cussed— the  great  question  that  affects  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
salvation  of  immortal  souls.  On  the  Royal  Exchange,  and  in 
the  Parliament  of  England,  it  is  "  the  dead  burying  their  dead;" 
but  on  the  floor  on  which  you  are  now  seated  it  is  the  living  God 
speaking  unto  men  words  which  will  rise  and  prove  by  your  re- 
ception of  them  that  they  were  your  life,  or  by  your  rejection  of 
them  that  they  aggravated  your  irretrievable  ruin.  Within  these 
walls  (solemn  and  weighty  thought !)  human  hearts  are  reached 
through  human  ears,  with  the  savour  of  life  or  the  savour  of 
death;  those  seeds  are  scattered  broadcast  in  the  midst,  which 
shall  bloom  in  amaranthine  glory  into  trees  of  righteousness, 
brighter  and  better  than  the  cedars  of  Lebanon,  or  into  thorns 
and  brambles  and  briers  fit  only  to  be  burned. 

Within  these  walls  are  battles  fought  more  glorious  than  Mara- 
thon— more  weighty  in  results  than  Waterloo ;  in  the  midst  of  us 
may  be  discussed  and  settled  questions  which  are  infinitely  superior 
to  all  that  are  transacted  in  the  parliaments,  the  senates,  and  the 
cabinets  of  mankind.  It  is  a  very  solemn  thought  that  sabbath 
after  sabbath  processes  are  going  on  amongst  us,  and  even  at 
this  moment  in  some  young  man's  or  some  young  woman's  heart, 
which  shall  determine  what  the  hereafter  of  either  is  to  be.  At 
this  moment  words  are  spoken  which  shall  be  rendered  back  for 
ever  and  ever  in  echoes  of  sweet  music  in  the  realms  of  joy,  or 
in  reverberations  and  crashes  of  thunder  in  the  regions  of  eternal 
woe.     If  we  do  not  sit  down  and  eat  at  our  daily  board  without 


536  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

asking  a  blessing  on  it,  surely  we  cannot  enter  these  walls  without 
lifting  up  our  hearts  to  God,  and  praying  that  what  we  are  ahout 
to  hear — be  it  the  simplest  statement  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus — 
may  not  prove  to  us  the  savour  of  death  unto  death,  but  may 
prove  a  savour  of  life  unto  life.  If  this  be  so,  let  every  one  that 
hath  ears  to  hear,  hear  with  reverence.  The  preacher  is  an  am- 
bassador of  God ;  his  sermon  is  not  a  mere  piece  of  entertainment 
for  an  idle  fancy;  he  himself  is  not  like  Ezekiel's  false  preacher, 
"one  that  performeth  on  an  instrument."  I  am  not  here  to 
preach  ahout  you,  or  to  preach  hefore  you,  like  a  candidate  for 
orders  preaching  before  the  presbytery  or  bishop,  but  to  preach 
to  you,  and  to  each  man  or  woman,  as  much  as  if  I  were  in  this 
pulpit,  and  that  man  or  that  woman,  like  the  woman  of  Samaria, 
alone  listening  to  me  from  that  pew.  What  I  say  is  the  embassy 
of  God;  what  I  am  is  an  ambassador  of  God.  The  lords  and 
commons  of  England,  when  they  are  summoned  to  hear  the 
Queen  convoke  or  dissolve  the  parliament,  go  right  reverently 
and  uncovered  into  the  presence  of  her  majesty ;  we  are  met  to 
hear  the  message  of  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords — the 
Prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth ;  with  what  thankfulness  and 
humility  should  we  meet !  and  what  reverence,  subduedness  of 
spirit,  and  solemnity  of  heart  should  we  feel ! 

You  are  to  hear,  and  "  every  one  that  hath  ears  to  hear"  should 
hear  also  with  teachableness  of  disposition.  If  you  come  to  the 
sanctuary  seeking  for  fine  things  to  tickle  your  ears,  or  for  grand 
things  to  interest  you,  you  will  get,  perhaps,  in  some  places  your 
reward  :  but  if  you  come,  feeling  that  you  are  sinners,  setting 
God  upon  his  throne,  and  yourselves  at  his  footstool ;  if  you  come 
here,  not  to  bo  pleased,  but  thirsting  for  living  water;  not  to 
while  away  an  idle  hour,  but  to  gather  living  manna  while  it 
comes ;  if,  in  short,  you  come  here  in  earnest — anxious  to  know 
things  that  you  did  not  know,  and  to  feel  the  force  of  things  you 
never  felt  before, — then  "  receive  tcith  meelcncss  the  engrafted 
word ;"  **  receive  the  kingdom  of  God  as  a  little  child ;"  that 
beautiful  illustration  of  Christian  faith  and  confidence  !  Call  your 
child  of  two  years  old  to  your  knee;  tell  him  something;  he  will 
listen  to  it ;  he  will  never  think  of  suspecting  or  questioning  what 


THE  LAST  APPEAL.  537 

you  say ;  and  if  you  go  into  that  child's  presence,  he  will  only 
think  of  you  as  coming  arrayed  in  love,  and  will  express  cordial 
and  heartfelt  welcome.  My  dear  friends,  you  are  called  upon  to 
hear  God,  to  believe  God,  to  go  into  God's  presence  with  the 
same  unsuspecting  confidence  with  which  a  child  goes  into  the 
presence  of  its  father,  and  hears  from  him  truths  and  lessons 
which  that  father  is  anxious  to  teach.  Sit  like  Mary  at  the  feet 
of  Jesus. 

Every  one  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  should  hear  with  close,  per- 
sonal application.  Just  suppose  each  sermon  to  be  as  much 
meant  for  you,  as  if  it  were  addressed  to  you  by  name.  It  is 
always  a  good  sign  when  people  say,  "  The  minister's  sermon  was 
personal."  The  truth  is,  our  sermons  are  too  impersonal :  they 
are  not  personal  enough.  And,  perhaps,  if  they  were  more 
pointed,  more  direct,  more  personal  than  they  are,  there  would 
be  less  crowds,  and  more  people  saying,  *'  I  won't  attend  that 
church  any  more;  I  shall  give  up  my  sitting  in  it;  I  do  not  like 
that  sort  of  preaching ;  I  want  a  preacher  that  will  speak  to  me 
smooth  things,  and  let  me  go  home,  and  cheat  and  lie  on  the 
Monday,  without  the  risk  of  having  one's  conscience  disturbed 
next  Sunday,  and  with  the  convenient  hope  that  all  will  be 
right  when  I  come  to  die."  I  wish  each  of  you  to  hear  as  if 
everything  were  meant  for  you  personally,  specifically  and  alone. 
The  great  object  of  a  sermon  is,  that  the  minister  is  to  collect  all 
the  scattered  rays  of  God's  truth  into  one  intense  focus,  and  you 
are  to  try  and  place  your  soul,  your  heart,  and  your  conscience  in 
that  focus.  Do  not  try  to  present  your  hearts  as  mere  hard  and 
bright  reflectors  of  the  light  that  the  minister  distributes,  but  as 
susceptible  and  sensitive  absorbents  of  that  light;  and  when  the 
minister  tells  you,  as  the  prophet  told  the  royal  personage  of  old, 
'^Thou  art  the  man,"  do  not  look  around  you  and  say,  "Does  he 
mean  so  and  so  ?  Can  it  be  this  one  ?  No  doubt  it  was  meant 
for  that  woman  :"  but  when  the  minister  says,  "  Thou  art  the 
man,"  look  neither  above  nor  below,  to  the  right  hand  nor  to  the 
left ;  but  look  within  you,  and  see  whether  it  does  not  produce  a 
response  in  the  depths  of  your  heart,  —  and  if  it  does,  pray  with 
the  psalmist,  "  Search  me,  0  God,  and  know  my  heart ;  try  me. 


538  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

and  know  my  thoughts;  and  see  if  there  be  any  wicked  way  in 
me,  and  lead  me  in  the  way  everlasting." 

And,  in  the  next  place,  let  me  call  upon  every  one  that  hath 
ears  to  hear,  to  hear  with  this  feeling  first  and  last,  uppermost, 
deepest,  and  nethermost  in  his  heart,  that  in  vain  may  an  Apollos 
preach,  or  a  Paul  plant,  or  the  most  eloquent  speak,  unless  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  God  is  pleased  to  give  the  increase.  And  there- 
fore it  is  here  said,  though  Christ  addressed  the  churches,  "  He 
that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the 
churches :"  teaching  us  that  the  Spirit  is  to  take  Christ's  word 
to  the  church,  and  bring  home  that  word  to  two  individual  mem- 
bers of  that  church.  And  when  the  Spirit  enables  us  to  profit 
by  what  wc  hear,  what  does  he  do  ?  He  does  not  alter  the  text 
of  the  Bible,  but  he  changes  the  heart  of  the  reader.  The  Spirit 
does  not  throw  new  light  upon  the  passage  of  the  Bible,  but  he 
throws  new  light  into  the  heart,  the  understanding,  and  the  con- 
science of  the  reader.  He  takes  those  truths  which  enter  at  one 
ear,  and  are  sent  forth  at  the  opposite,  without  leaving  the  least 
impression,  and  makes  them  strike  deep  into  the  heart,  like  a 
barbed  arrow,  which  can  only  be  withdrawn  by  the  hand  that 
was  nailed  to  the  cross,  and  that  benevolently  and  lovingly  planted 
it  there.  Hence  we  see  the  difference  between  a  man  who  reads 
the  Bible  in  the  light  of  carnal  wisdom,  and  another  man  who 
reads  the  Bible  in  the  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  One  man  be- 
lieves it,  and  would  subscribe  to  it  as  a  creed ;  the  other  man 
believes  it,  and  feels  it,  and  subjects  his  soul  to  it  as  to  a  regene- 
rative power.  One  man  has  light  enough  to  lead  him  to  acquiesce 
in  and  to  admire  it ;  but  the  other  man  has  light  that  makes  him 
accept  the  influence  of  the  Bible  in  his  walk,  his  conversation, 
and  deportment  in  the  world.  The  man  who  is  not  taught  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  admits  the  Bible  and  Christianity  as  a  cold  but  beau- 
tiful theory;  the  other  admits  it  to  influence  his  heart  as  a  living 
element  of  power.  The  one  subordinates  the  Bible  to  suit  his 
own  aim  and  end ;  the  other  is  subordinated  by  the  Bible  to  feel 
its  great  and  holy  purposes.  The  natural  man  makes  use  of  the 
Bible  to  do  what  he  wishes;  the  regenerate  man  is  subjected  and 
converted  by  the  Bible  to  do  what  God  would  have  him  to  do. 


THE  LAST  APPEAL.  689 

One  runs  after  the  preacher,  seeking  to  be  regaled  by  his  elo- 
quence; the  other  comes  to  the  minister  thirsting  for  God,  the 
living  God.  The  one  changes  his  place  of  worship  in  order  to 
come  under  a  new  excitement;  the  other  prays  for  the  Spirit  of 
God  to  come  down  upon  the  old  place  and  the  old  ministration, 
in  order  that  a  real  and  living  excitement  may  take  place  in  his 
heart.  The  one  has  "ears  to  hear,"  and  itching  ones  too;  the 
other  has  a  heart  to  feel,  and  therefore  the  Gospel  to  him  is  not 
in  word  only,  but  in  power. 

I  have  thus  told  you  the  grounds  upon  which  you  are  to  listen  y- 
I  have  also  explained  how  you  are  to  listen;  and  lastly,  the  ne- 
cessity of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  teach  you. 

How  many  practical  lessons  have  we  gathered  from  the  consi- 
deration of  these  seven  beautiful  epistles  !  How  many  precious 
truths,  like  pearls,  have  we  picked  up  by  the  way  !  How  many 
sweet  sounds  of  heavenly  music  have  we  heard  !  This  is  certain 
of  all,  that  great  responsibilities  have  been  incurred.  Another 
year  is  drawing  to  its  close ;  the  epochs,  the  scenes,  the  transac- 
tions, the  perils  of  which  we  dimly  guessed  at  its  commencement, 
and  have  painfully,  and  some  personally  witnessed  at  its  close. 
What  the  next  year  may  be,  it  is  not  for  me  to  state ;  but  all  seems 
blackening  still.  There  is  not  a  throne  in  Europe  that  is  not 
placed  upon  a  volcano  :  there  is  not  a  population  in  Europe  that 
has  not  its  sword  half  out  of  its  sheath.  There  is  not  a  piece  of 
ground  safe,  I  solemnly  believe,  for  man's  foot  or  for  man's  heart 
— for  monarch's  throne  or  for  commoner's  home — until  that  sun- 
shine bursts  upon  the  world  which  ushers  in  the  Sun  of  Right- 
eousness himself,  and  the  New  Jerusalem  cometh  down  from 
heaven  prepared  as  a  bride  for  the  bridegroom. 

I  purpose,  on  future  Sabbath  evenings,  as  soon  as  I  have  suffi- 
ciently prepared  the  materials  myself,  to  show  you  how  the  pro- 
phecies contained  in  Daniel  go  to  confirm  those  that  are  contained 
in  the  Apocalypse ;  how  both  contain  illustrations  of  the  same 
great  practical  truths,  and  both  point  to  the  same  blessed  and 
glorious  issues.  In  discoursing  on  this  book,  the  Apocalypse,  I 
have  said  little,  I  hope,  that  is  rash ;  nothing,  I  hope,  that  is 
purely  speculative  :  where  God  is  silent,  my  guess  and  conjecture 


540  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

have  beea  faint;  where  God  Las  clearly  spoken,  I  trust  the 
trumpet  has  given  no  uncertain  sound.  The  effect  of  these 
studies  upon  me  has  been  that  my  heart  is  more  subdued  and  my 
grasp  of  the  world  is  more  and  more  relaxed;  my  feeling  and 
living  as  a  stranger,  and  a  sojourner,  and  a  pilgrim,  is  increased. 
These  thoughts  have  not  saddened  me,  but  they  have  sanctified 
me ;  they  have  not  made  me  more  melancholy,  because  I  stand 
upon  that  which  is  soon  to  lie  a  wreck  :  on  the  contrary,  they  have 
made  me  feel  more  hopeful,  more  joyous,  because  my  redemption 
draweth  nigh ;  and,  instead  of  making  me  relax  in  duty  toward 
those  that  are  without,  I  feel  that  the  day  is  rapidly  drawing  to 
its  close,  and  great  dark  shadows,  like  the  birds  of  night,  are 
coming  up  and  gathering  on  the  horizon,  and  overspreading  and 
darkening  it  with  their  wings ;  and  whilst  the  little  light  remains, 
let  us  do  our  work  more  strenuously  before  the  night  cometh, 
when  no  man  can  work.  As  far  as  you  are  concerned,  I  am  sure 
these  truths  have  been  sweetened  and  sanctified  to  you  ;  you  have 
been  more  liberal — liberal  beyond  measure — so  much  so,  that  our 
treasurer  was  telling  me,  only  the  other  day,  that  during  the  last 
six  months  he  has  received  from  you,  for  different  purposes  of 
religion  and  charity,  external  to  ourselves,  above  600^.  The 
amount  of  your  contributions,  for  the  good  of  others  and  for  the 
promotion  of  the  Gospel,  certainly  indicates  that  your  hearts  have 
been  touched,  and  your  hands  arc  therefore  open.  God  grant 
that  you  may  go  on  even  unto  perfection,  till  we  arrive  at  that 
age  which  many  of  us  may  live  to  enter;  for  the  six-thousandth 
year  is  nearly  closing;  we  are  within  twenty  years  of  the  close 
of  the  sixth  millennary  from  the  creation  of  the  world.  When 
these  twenty  years  have  expired,  it  is  more  than  probable  the 
great  Sabbatical  year  will  begin — "  the  rest  that  remaineth  for 
the  people  of  God ;"  that  bright  and  blessed  day  when  all  things 
shall  become  new,  and  on  some  of  the  promises  relating  to  which 
I  will  address  you  by-and-by. 


The  following  is  the  most  recent  description  of  Laodicea : — 
There  were  five  cities  of  this  name,  two  in  Asia  Minor,  two  in 


THE  LAST  APPEAL.  541 

Syria,  and  another  in  Media ;  but  the  Scriptures  speak  only  of 
that  in  Phrygia,  near  Colosse,  one  of  the  seven  primitive  Chris- 
tian Churches.  Its  earliest  name  was  Diospolis ;  it  was  afterwards 
called  Rhoas ;  but  Antiochus  II.  King  of  Syria,  having  rebuilt 
or  enlarged  and  beautified  it,  called  it  Laodicea,  after  his  wife 
Laodice.  Strabo  mentions  it  as  being  a  great  and  important  city 
in  his  time,  and  in  the  age  preceding. 

Laodicea  was  situated  on  the  Lycus,  a  tributary  of  the  Mean- 
der, one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  E.  S.  E.  of  Smyrna.  It  was  an 
inconsiderable  place  under  the  Syrian  kings,  but  when  it  came  into 
the  possession  of  the  Romans,  they  strengthened  and  enlarged  it, 
so  that  at  length,  about  the  Christian  era,  it  became,  next  to 
Apamea  Cibolis,  the  largest  city  of  Phrygia.  There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  it  was  visited  by  St.  Paul  in  the  course  of  his  apostolic 
tour  through  Asia  Minor,  and  probably  the  Christian  converts  of 
Laodicea,  as  well  as  those  of  Colosse  and  Hierapolis,  both  neigh- 
bouring towns,  were  the  fruits  of  the  Apostle's  preaching.  In 
the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians,  (iv.  16,)  mention  is  made  of  an 
epistle  to  the  Laodiceans ;  and  though  some  critics  have  main- 
tained that  it  is  identical  with  that  to  the  Ephesians,  the  more 
probable  conjecture  is,  that  it  has  not  come  down  to  us.  The 
persecution  which  raged  in  Asia  Minor  during  the  latter  part  of 
the  first  century,  tended  somewhat  to  abate  the  zeal  of  the 
Laodicean  Christians,  and  hence  the  rebuke  in  the  Revelation. 
"  Laodicea,"  observes  Dr.  Chandler,  "  was  often  damaged  by 
earthquakes,  and  restored  by  its  own  opulence,  or  by  the  munifi- 
cence of  the  Roman  Emperors.  These  resources  failed,  and  the 
city,  it  is  probable,  became  early  a  scene  of  ruins.  Abouf  the 
year  1097,  it  was  possessed  by  the  Turks,  and  submitted  to 
Ducas,  general  of  the  Emperor  Alexis.  In  1120,  the  Turks 
sacked  some  of  the  cities  of  Phrygia,  but  were  defeated  by  the 
Emperor  John  Comnenus,  who  took  Laodicea,  and  built  anew  or 
repaired  the  walls.  About  1161  it  was  again  unfortified,  many 
of  the  inhabitants  were  then  killed,  with  their  bishop,  or  carried 
with  their  cattle  into  captivity  by  the  Turks.  In  1190  the 
German  Emperor,  Frederic  Barbarossa,  going  by  Laodicea  with 
his  army  towards  Syria,  on  a  Crusade,  was  received  so  kindly 

46 


542  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

that  he  prayed  on  his  knees  for  the  prosperity  of  the  people. 
About  1196,  this  region,  with  Caria,  was  dreadfully  ravaged  by 
the  Turks.  The  Sultan,  on  the  invasion  of  the  Tartars  in  1255, 
gave  Laodicea  to  the  Romans,  but  they  were  unable  to  defend  it, 
and  it  soon  returned  to  the  Turks.  We  saw  no  traces  of  houses, 
churches,  or  mosques.  All  was  silence  and  solitude.  Several 
strings  of  camels  passed  eastward  over  the  hills ;  but  a  fox,  which 
we  first  discovered  by  his  ears  peeping  over  a  brow,  was  the  only 
inhabitant  of  Laodicea."  The  city  finally  came  into  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Turks  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
since  which  it  has  been  a  mere  ruin,  "  wretched,  and  miserable, 
and  poor,  and  naked."  (Rev.  iii.  14 — 22.)  Its  ruins  now  only 
remain,  which  bear  among  the  Turks  of  the  neighbouring  towns 
the  name  of  Estrihissar,  or  the  Old  Castle.  There  is,  in  fact, 
not  one  of  the  Seven  Churches,  the  overthrow  of  which  has  been 
so  severe,  and  the  desolation  of  which  has  been  so  entire,  as  that 
of  Laodicea.  It  is  indeed  little  else  than  a  heap  of  ruins ;  from 
which,  however,  ample  evidence  may  be  collected  of  the  magnifi- 
cence for  which  it  was  anciently  celebrated.  These  ruins  cover 
three  or  four  small  hills,  and  are  of  very  great  extent. 

Its  three  theatres,  and  the  immense  circus,  which  was  capable 
of  containing  upwards  of  thirty  thousand  spectators,  the  spacious 
remains  of  which  are  yet  to  be  seen,  give  proof  of  the  greatness 
of  its  ancient  wealth  and  population,  and  indicate  too  strongly, 
that  in  that  city  where  Christians  were  rebuked,  without  excep- 
tion, for  their  lukewarm ness,  there  were  multitudes  who  wei-e 
lovers  of  pleasure  more  than  lovers  of  God.  There  are  no  sights 
of  grandeur,  nor  scenes  of  temptation  around  it  now.  Its  tragedy 
may  be  briefly  told.  It  was  lukewarm,  and  neither  hot  nor  cold ; 
and  therefore  it  was  loathsome  in  the  sight  of  God. 

"  Laodicea,"  says  Dr.  Smith,  "  is  utterly  desolated,  and  with- 
out any  inhabitants  except  wolves,  and  jackals,  and  foxes.  It 
can  boast  of  no  human  inhabitants,  except  occasionally  when 
wandering  Turcomans  pitch  their  tents  in  its  spacious  amphi- 
theatre." 

Colonel  Leake  observes,  "  There  are  few  ancient  cities  more 
likely  than  Laodicea  to  preserve  many  curious  remains  of  an- 


THE  LAST  APPEAL.  543 

tiquity  beneath  the  surface  of  the  soil.  Its  opulence,  and  the 
earthquakes  to  which  it  was  subject,  render  it  protfable  that 
valuable  works  of  art  were  often  there  buried  beneath  the  ruins 
of  the  public  and  private  edifices." 

"  Not  a  single  Christian,"  says  another  writer,  "  is  said  to  re- 
side at  Laodicea,  which  is  even  more  solitary  than  Ephesus.  The 
latter  city  has  a  prospect  of  a  rolling  sea  or  a  whitening  sail  to 
enliven  its  decay;  the  former  sits  in  widowed  loneliness.  Its 
temples  are  desolate,  and  the  stately  edifices  of  ancient  Laodicea 
are  now  peopled  by  wolves  and  jackals.  The  prayers  of  the  Mo- 
hammedan mosque  are  the  only  prayers  heard  near  the  yet  splendid 
ruins  of  the  city,  on  which  the  prophetic  denunciation  seems  to 
have  been  fully  executed,  in  its  utter  rejection  as  a  Church," 

In  all  the  facts  recorded  by  travellers  and  historians  respecting 
the  present  state  of  the  Seven  Churches  of  Asia,  we  have  unde- 
signed, but  no  less  conclusive  proof  of  the  truth  of  the  predic- 
tions contained  in  the  Apocalypse.  Jew  and  Gentile,  Moslem 
and  Christian,  Arab  and  Tartar,  pilgrim,  antiquary,  and  historian, 
have  gone  into  Asia,  each  to  prosecute  his  own  ends — following 
the  bent  of  his  own  folly,  fancy,  or  it  may  have  been,  fanaticism 
— and  after  all  these  have  retired  satisfied  or  disappointed,  either 
refugees  or  conquerors,  travellers  visit  these  ancient  scenes,  some 
in  quest  of  health,  some  out  of  antiquarian  curiosity,  others  to 
view  the  remains  of  faded  magnificence,  and  others  to  be  able  to 
write  books  that,  by  their  accuracy,  interest,  or  disclosures,  shall 
have  many  purchasers ;  and  lo  !  the  rj3cords  of  historians,  travellers, 
geographers,  are  found,  unintentionally  and  unexpectedly  on  their 
part,  to  be  simply  the  translation  of  Apocalyptic  prophecies  into 
modern  historical  facts.  How  perishing  is  all  that  man  calls  great ! 
How  enduring  is  all  that  God  pronounces  true  !  When  one  sees 
facts  thus  coming  up  one  after  another  in  ceaseless  succession  to 
respond  to  the  predictions  of  God,  one  cannot  help  believing  that 
these  words,  "  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit 
saith  unto  the  Churches,"  were  heard  by  all  sorts  and  conditions 
of  men,  and  that  all  rushed  to  Asia  in  order  to  fulfil  them.  But 
they  intended  no  such  thing;  they  had  no  desire  to  make  actual 


544  THE  CHURCH  OF  LAODICEA. 

a  single  verse  in  the  Bible,  In  this  absence  of  all  desire  or  de- 
sign to  illustrate  or  demonstrate  Christianity,  lies  the  force  of 
their  testimony,  the  value  of  their  contributions.  Yet  all  this  is 
but  a  first-fruits  of  the  harvests  of  heathendom,  as  well  as  of 
Christianity,  yet  to  be  reaped.  God's  glory  will  be  exacted  from 
many  as  a  sacrifice  by  whom  it  will  not  be  given  as  an  offering. 
Hostile  lips  will  yet  reluctantly  give  utterance  to  these  words, 
"  Thy  word  is  truth." 


THE    END. 


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A  Truly  Beautiful  Book. 


AN  ELEGANT  PRESENTATION  VOLUME,  by  the  Rev.  H.  HAnBAUGH, 
Author  of  the  "Heavenly  Recognition  of  Friends/'  the  "Heavenly  Home,"  <tc. 
Imperial  Octavo,  elegantly  Illcstratkd  by  Twelve  Designs,  done  in  Colours. 

This  Work  is  altogether  Original,  and  by  a  Popular  Author,  The  Elustrations 
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Elegantly  bound  in  Turkey  Morocco,  Antique,         -  -  -         $7  00 

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i 

t  I'his  is  a  book  on  which  the  eye  reposes  with  genuine  pleasure.    In  all  parts  of  its  mechanical  exe- 

i  i:ution  it  is  sumptuously  prepared,  and  highly  creditable  to  the  taste  which  planned  and  superintended 

i  its  publication.    Our  readers  are  not  to  expect  in  it  a  scientific  treatise  on  Bible  ornitholo^,  with  the 

J  usual  technical  descriptions,  but  a  series  of  beautifully-written  sketches  suggested  by  the  mention  of 

i  various  birds,  incidentally  referred  to  in  the  sacred  Scriptures.    Mr.  Harbaugh's  talents  as  an  agree- 

f  able  and  devotional  writer,  have  been  tested  and  approved  in  the  former  productions  of  his  pen.    His 

i  publishers  have  most  liberally  aided  him  in  making  this  work  acceptable,  by  the  accompaniments  of  a 

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'1  among  Jlr.  Harbaugh's  works.    There  is  a  mingled  veinof  piety  and  poetry  running  through  the  whole 

<  of  It  that  brings  it  closely  home  to  the  heart  as  well  as  the  taste. — Episcopal  Recorder. 

f  This  is  truly  an  elegant  book.  The  paper,  typography,  and  illustrations,  are  all  of  the  best  quality  ; 
i  and  the  contents  are  in  admirable  keeping  with  the  externals  of  the  book.  Karely  indeed  is  so  much 
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t  Ti\e  conception  of  this  book  is,  we  believe,  as  original  as  it  is  beautiful.    The  various  birds  men- 

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*  produce  a  hook  at  once  lieautiful  in  its  subjects  and  in  its  language ;  artistic  in  its  rjynerous  iL^stra- 
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LINDSAY  &BLAKISTON'S   PUBLICATIONS. 

PROCTOR'S   HISTORY   OF   THE    CRUSADES. 
With  154  niustratious. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CRUSADES, 

THEIR  RISE,  PROGRESS,  AND  RESULTS.     By  Major  Proctor,  of  the    I 
Royal  Military  Academy. 


CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER  I.  The  First  Crusade. — Causes  of  the  Crnsades — Preaching  oi  the 
First  Crusade — Peter  the  Hermit — The  Crusade  nndertaken  by  the  Peojj'e — 
The  Crusade  undertaken  by  the  Kings  and  Nobles — The  First  Crusaders  at 
Constantinople — The  Siege  of  Nice — Defeat  of  the  Turks — Seizure  of  Edessa — 
Siege  and  Capture  of  Antioch  by  the  Crusaders — Defence  of  Antioch  by  the 
Crusaders — Siege  and  Capture  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Crusaders. 

CHAPTER  II.  The  Second  Crusade. — State  of  the  Latin  Ficgdom — Origin 
of  the  Orders  of  Religious  Chivalry — Fall  of  Edessa — Preaching  of  the  Second 
Crusade — Louis  VII.  and  Conrad  III.  in  Palestine. 

CHAPTER  III.  The  Third  Crusade.— The  Rise  of  Saladin— Battle  of  Tibe- 
rias, and  Fall  of  Jerusalem — The  Germans  undertake  the  Crusade— -Richard 
Coeur  de  Lion  in  Palestine. 

CHAPTER  rV.  The  Fourth  Crusade. — The  French,  Germans,  and  Tlalians 
unite  in  the  Crusade — Aifairs  of  the  Ea-stem  Empire — Expedition  again&t  Con- 
stantinople— Second  Siege  of  Constantinople. 

CHAPTER  V.  The  Last  Four  Crusades.— History  of  the  Latin  Emvl-e  of 
the  East— The  Fifth  Crusade— The  Sixth  Crusade— The  Seventh  Crusade-  -The 
Eighth  Crusade. 

CHAPTER  VI. — Consequences  op  the  Crusades. 


•* 


At  the  present  time,  when  a  misunderstanding  concerning  the  Holy  Places  at 
Jerusalem  has  given  rise  to  a  war  involving  four  of  the  great  Powers  of  Europe, 
the  mind  naturally  reverts  to  the  period  when  nearly  all  the  military  powers  of 
Europe  made  a  descent  on  Palestine  for  the  recovery  of  them  from  the  possession 
of  the  infidels.  It  would  seem  that  the  interest  in  these  places  is  still  alive;  and 
the  history  of  the  Holy  Wars  in  Palestine  during  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  may  be  supposed  to  form  an  attractive  theme  for  the  general  reader. 

Under  this  impression  Major  Proctor's  excellent  "  History  of  the  Crusades"  has 
been  carefully  revised,  some  additions  made,  a  series  of  illustrative  engravings,    , , 
executed  by  first-rate  artists,  introduced,  and  the  edition  is  now  respectfully  sub-    ;  I 
mitted  to  the  public. 

The  editor,  in  the  performance  of  his  duty,  has  been  struck  with  the  masterly, 
clear,  and  lucid  method  in  which  the  author  has  executed  the  work — a  work  of 
considerable  diflSculty,  when  we  consider  the  long  period  and  the  multiplicity  of 
important  events  embraced  in  the'history;  nor  has  the  editor  been  less  impressed 
with  the  vigorous  style,  and  the  happy  power  of  giving  vividness,  colour,  and 
thrilling  interest  to  the  events  which  he  narrates,  so  conspicuous  in  Major  Proc- 
tor's history.  No  other  historian  of  the  Crusades  has  succeeded  in  comprising  so 
complete  and  entertaining  a  narrative  in  so  reasonable  a  compass. 

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We  view  it  as  a  casket  filled  with  the  most  precious  gems  of  leamio?  and  fancy,  and  so  arranged  as 
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OR,  SCRIPTURE  THEMES  AND  THOUGHTS,  as  Paraphrased  by  the  Poets. 
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The  design  was  an  equally  happy  and  original  one,  that  of  collecting  the  fine  moral  and  religions 
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AFRAJA;  or,  LIFE  AND  LOVE  DT  NOEWAY. 

A  NORWEGIAN  AND  LAPLAND  TALK  From  the  German  of  Theodore 
Miigge.  Translated  by  Edwakd  Jot  Morris,  Author  of  "Travels  in  the 
East,"  "The  Turkish  Empire,"  Ac. 

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"  The  reader,  in  his  perusal  of  this  beautiful  work  of  genius,  will  find  himself 
introduced  to  a  rare  and  almost  untrodden  field  of  fiction — the  remote  neighbour- 
hood of  the  North  Pole,  and  those  icy,  desert  steppes,  where  the  Laplander  pur- 
sues his  wandering  life  of  privation  and  suffering.  His  life-like  descriptions  of 
the  manners  and  customs  of  this  curious  people,  and  the  Norwegian  settlers  on 
the  coasts,  are  drawn  with  such  power  as  to  awaken  the  keenest  interest  in  his 
brilliant  story,  and  to  keep  the  attention  of  the  reader  intensely  excited  from  the 
first  to  the  last  page.  The  characters  are  pourtrayed  with  a  rare  skill  and  fidelity 
to  nature,  and  the  whole  composition  cannot  fail  to  augment  the  reputation  of  the 
author,  and  to  place  him  in  the  front  rank  of  German  historical  novelists." 

The  characters  of  the  heroines  of  the  story,  Gula  and  Ilda,  are  delineated  with 
a  degree  of  delicacy  and  beauty  rarely  to  be  met  with,  and  with  a  power  so  ab- 
sorbing as  to  completely  chain  the  reader's  attention. 


The  story  is  truly  one  of  "  life  and  lore"  among  a  people  almost  unknown  to  us  except  by  name ; 
and  the  incidents  of  it  are  so  new  and  so  heart-stirring,  that  little  as  we  are  accustomed  to  yield  to  the 
delusion  without  which  no  novel  can  be  interesting,  we  could  hardly  shaka  off  the  fancy  that  every 
thrilling  occurrence  related  passed  under  our  own  eye. — National  Intelligencer. 

There  is  an  originality,  simplicity  and  beauty  about  the  whole  which  will  attract  and  charm  every 
reader  of  taste,  and  make  it  a  most  welcome  addition  to  the  commonwealth  of  fiction. — Traveller. 

This  work  is  destined  to  delight  many  readers  There  is  a  dramatic  as  well  as  descriptive  power 
in  it  which  is  illustrated  in  every  page.  A  new  volume  in  human  nature  is  here  opened  to  us. — 
BuUetin. 

Afraja  is  destined  to  a  wide  and  enduring  popularity,  and  it  will  take  a  distinguished  place  among 
the  highest  order  of  classic  fictions.  The  variety  and  contrast  of  characters  invest  the  book  with  a 
new  charm.  The  cold,  self-sacrificing  Dda;  the  artless  child  of  nature,  Gula;  the  warm-hearted, 
passionate  Hannah,  have  their  counterparts  in  the  pure,  high-minded  Danish  Baron,  Alarstrand,  the 
simple,  guileless  Bjorname,  and  the  crafty,  vindictive  Petersen.  The  cunning,  avaricious  traders, 
Helgestad  and  Fandrem,  are  confronted  with  the  magnanimous  old  L.-ipianO  chief  Afraja,  whose  mys- 
terious character  and  life,  reputed  wealth,  and  fiime  as  a  necromancer,  keep  the  imagination  of  the 
i     reader  in  a  continued  stretch  of  excitement  to  the  last  page. — Inquirer. 


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